Book Description

A New York Times/New York Public Library Best Illustrated Book of the Year In this fresh new fairy tale, a wooden robot embarks on a quest to find his missing sister-- making for a memorable contemporary bedtime story in acclaimed graphic novelist Tom Gauld's first picture book for children.For years, the king and queen have tried desperately to have a baby. Their wish was granted twice, when an engineer and a witch gave them a little wooden robot and an enchanted log princess. But there's just one catch: every night when the log princess sleeps, she transforms back into an ordinary log, and can only be woken up with magic words. The princess and her robot brother are are inseparable, until the sleeping princess, mistaken for lumber, is accidentally carted off to parts unknown. Now it's up to her devoted brother to find her, and get them safely back home. They need to take turns to get each other home, and on the way, they face a host of adventures involving the Queen of Mushrooms, a magic pudding, a baby in a rosebush, and an old lady in a bottle.This is acclaimed graphic novelist Tom Gauld's first picture book for children, inspired by a bedtime story he made up for his daughters. In his words, "I was trying to make a book inspired by three different sets of books: The books that I remember enjoying as a child, the books that I watched my daughters enjoying, and the books I enjoy now as an adult. I wanted the book to have its own quirky feeling but also to function like a classic bedtime story."An ALSC Notable Children's BookA Charlotte Zolotow Highly Commended TitleA People Magazine Best Kids Book of the YearA Washington Post Best Children's Book of the YearA Wall Street Journal Best Children's Book of the YearA Financial Times Best Book of the YearAn NPR 'Book We Love!'A Booklist Editors' ChoiceA Shelf Awareness Best Children's Book of the YearA Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books Blue Ribbon Book!A Publishers Lunch Best Book of the YearA Junior Library Guild Gold Standard SelectionAn Evanston Public Library Great Books for Kids pick!A CCBC ChoiceA Mighty Girl Best Book of the Year