A king and queen who wish for children of their own receive two: a small wooden robot crafted by an inventor, and a log princess enchanted by a witch. Every night, the princess transforms into a log and must be woken each morning by the magic words “Awake, little log, awake.” This task falls on her brother, the robot, but a distraction one morning results in a maid unwittingly tossing the princess (in log form) out of a window. The log is promptly picked up by a goblin, who sells it to the captain of a barge piled high with (non-princess) logs. In frantic pursuit of his sister, the robot boards the barge to search for her and finds himself in the frozen North. Finally recognizing his sister among the myriad similar logs, the robot begins to pull her home in a handcart. Along the way, sister and brother partake in numerous adventures—comically named but not elaborated upon—rescue one another, and are rescued in turn by friends who help them complete the journey home. The digitally colored ink-on-paper illustrations imitate woodcuts: a perfect match for this charming, original story firmly rooted in a fairy-tale world. (Ages 3-8)