Book Review
Little Woodchucks
Offerman Woodshop’s Guide to Tools and Tomfoolery
by Nick Offerman and Lee Buchanan
Review by J. Norman Reid
So, you’ve got kids, or maybe grandkids. And their eyes are forever glued to the big screen. Or one of several little screens. They don’t move. You think maybe they’re catatonic. Then you remember how it was in your day, before all this internet stuff, before all the videos, before all the computer games. How you played outside in the fresh air, by gosh, got dirt on your face, on your hands, and made mom mad when you muddied your jeans. How you made stuff and got along with what you had. And now you wonder, why can’t today’s kids have some of the same kind of fun you had, doing active things, making stuff, anything besides that incessant vacant staring at a screen for entertainment.
It’s Nick Offerman to the rescue. His latest book, and unquestionably his wackiest, is designed to get kids started on a path toward do-it-yourself, make your own fun, by using their hands, and their minds, to create fun things. Little Woodchucks is that book. And if anything will get them away from those tiny screens, this one—with a smidge of adult help—will do just that.
It does take adult participation, though, and that’s also what this book’s all about. While the book’s 12 projects are each intended to be built by child-sized and child-skilled hands, they’re also a chance to build closer relationships. Parents and grandparents can, through the aid of these projects, create stronger communication with the younger generation while teaching them to use their hands, and their minds, to experience their own creative visions.
The 12 projects are loosely arrayed in increasing order of complexity and difficulty, building skills progressively from one project to the next. But none—save the final two—are really hard, and all of them are fun. Some, like the toast tongs and Japanese toolbox, are meant to be useful items for the home or workshop. Others—the carved figures, slapstick, and log truck, for example—are just fun ways for kids to express their individuality and freedom of expression.
Each of the projects is designed to use a simple set of hand tools, both for safety and to encourage hand-eye coordination. Most projects require little in the way of special materials. Power tools such as a chop saw or jig saw may help with a couple of the projects, with adult use, but they aren’t necessary.
This is a VERY funny book! And while the projects are designed for kids to build, the text is clearly best appreciated by adults. Oh sure, you can read it to your youngsters, and then you can share giggles at the frivolity that runs laughingly throughout the book. Nick’s use of language, and the silly stories he tells about each project, are meant to engage children at a level at which they can relate. But the larger message—and beneath the tomfoolery there is one—might be lost on the younger ones without explanation. That message, that there’s a big benefit to doing things for yourself and side-stepping the big box stores and corporate greed, trickles throughout the book. As it does, it places emphasis on strengthening the whole child, building character along with skills, and encouraging creative energy. Didn’t expect that from a little book of projects for kids, did you?
The book has lots of great illustrations. They show kids doing things; they show Nick in humorous and sometimes compromising conditions; they show the tools each project will use and the materials it needs. They’re both instructive and a source of laughs for both kids and the adults who share it with them.
While my grandkids aren’t yet old enough for these projects—four or five seems like a good starting age, with some projects that will appeal more to older children—I am intrigued by a couple of the projects, and I intend to build them for my own use.
I really enjoyed reading this book. Normally, I’m a passive reader. I seldom have a visceral reaction to what I read. I usually just take it in, maybe make some notes, and keep a stoic face. Kind of like the face gruff Nick pictures when beset by a gang of kids pretending to drill holes in his head or taking other shop-time liberties with his body. Like that. But this book had a different effect on me. Many times, I found myself curiously smiling. But the real surprise were the loud guffaws that erupted when I encountered a particularly juicy bit of preposterousness. What fun! Nick managed to break my mold! I owe him thanks for this bit of delight.
This is a book that both kids and their older companions can enjoy together, both the delightfully enticing text and the fun and engaging projects. Here’s a recipe for a dozen weekend projects. A dozen weekends away from those little screens. A dozen chances to engage kids at a level on which they can relate, to convince them you aren’t always the fuddy-duddy they thought you were, to share some moments of genuine pleasure.
Don’t have a regular workshop? Most of these projects don’t require one. Many can be done on the kitchen table. And if you decide to build the sawhorse, or a pair of them, you’ve suddenly created a workshop on which the other projects can easily be built.
So, what are you waiting for? This book’ll bring you joy and a chance to share some fun with the younger ones in your life. That’s an opportunity too valuable to miss.
Find out more and purchase Little Woodchucks
at Highland Woodworking
J. Norman Reid is a woodworker, writer, photographer and woodworking instructor living in Virginia's Blue Ridge Mountains with his wife, a woodshop full of power and hand tools and two cats who think they are cabinetmaker's assistants. He is the author of Choosing and Using Handplanes: All You Need to Know to Get Started Planing by Hand, and co-owner of Shenandoah Tool Works. He can be reached by email at jnreid45@gmail.com.
|
