Classic story of a young, lonely Princess who watched the woodcutter and his daughter deliver wood and envied their closeness. She escapes the Castle and spends a day with the peasant family. Cozy, homey artwork reminds me of Wanda Gag, Helen Sewell and Grace Paull. ( )

A seven-year-old Princess is lonely in spite of all the servants who tend to her because her parents are too busy running the kingdom and she has no friends to play with. Everyday she sees the woodcutter and his daughter, Polly, and wishes that she could be the daughter, while the daughter wishes she could be the Princess. Anyway, one day she has the opportunity to run away and she takes it. After falling in some water, Polly takes her home, where the Princess gets to take care of a sleeping baby and eat good honest simple food and play with the woodcutter's children and have a grand old time. She returns home, where her parents are so happy about the Queen having a new baby that she is not punished and she is able to convince the King to let her play every day with the woodcutter's daughter. And so the Princess lived happily ever after.
Everybody in the story is well-meaning, but the grownups in the castle don't seem to understand what is important for children. Friendship and kindness, which are found more with the woodcutter and his family, matter more than fancy clothes and social status. The pictures and the story are nice enough, but I guess it's all too sweet for my taste. ( )