Learn to Whittle Fascinating People in Wood: Make Hundreds of Different Expressions with One Knife

Banks, who teaches art at community centers across the U.S., debuts with a charming guide to carving small wooden figurines in the minimalist Scandinavian style, which favors flat planes over rounded edges and results in boxy, cartoon-like finished products. Writing for beginners, Banks shows how to make basic cuts, strop knives, and choose the right wood (he recommends basswood for its tight grain and notes that butternut “holds its shape well as it dries”). He walks through how to create a slouching old man figurine as well as an old woman with a headscarf, and then describes how to create variations on those designs. For instance, he covers how to carve a cane, hat, jacket, pipe, and sweater, as well as various nose and mouth shapes. There are photos of other figurines—including a man in a bowler hat, a stocky “Nordic fisherman,” and a bearded sea captain—but readers will have to figure out how to make them on their own, since instructions aren’t included. The expressive figurines evoke a coastal rusticism, and Banks provides plenty of practical tips for beginners, as when he explains that it’s easier to get proportions right if the body is carved before the head. Novice whittlers will appreciate this wonderful introduction to the craft. (July)