The Little Wooden Robot and the Log Princess by Tom Gauld (review)

The king and queen of “a pleasant land” want a child, so they reach out to a inventor and witch, respectively, to get one. The inventor provides a little wooden robot son, and the witch provides a log princess, who turns into a log when she falls asleep and must be woken by a magical phrase. The siblings are inseparable, so when a maid throws out the log she finds in the princess’s bed and it’s swept up by a goblin, the robot travels to the icy North to get her back. The robot’s adventures leave him stiff and wind him down, so he wakes the princess up, but her adventures leave her tired and she falls asleep and turns back into a log, after which they’re both rescued by woodland creatures and taken to the witch, who returns them to their family. This modern fairy tale invokes its predecessors well; Gauld’s art is particularly striking, with pen lines that combine the aesthetics of a classic cartoonish look and traditional woodcut art, divided frequently into comic book panels. Humor runs throughout the story (the little wooden robot and the log princess each get six panels about the unexplained but hilariously implied “too many adventures to recount here”), but it maintains that classic fairy tale feel that has captivated audiences for centuries. Viewers will find plenty of hidden details in the cluttered homes of the inventor and witch upon reread, and this will likely be an instant bedtime staple.