Little Woodchucks - by Nick Offerman & Lee Buchanan (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

From New York Times bestselling author, Emmy-winning actor, and charismatically carnivorous woodworker Nick Offerman, an illustrated woodworking guide with projects for the whole family

In his long running hit book Good Clean Fun, Nick Offerman brought us into his woodshop with personal reflections on woodworking alongside instructions to create some of his favorite projects. Now, in Little Woodchucks, the Offerman Woodshop is opening its avuncular doors to woodworkers of all ages in the form of twelve brand-new, family-friendly projects perfect for kids, from beginner projects like a handmade box kite to more challenging offerings like a little free library / meat locker.

Combining his signature wry humor with clearly written and joyfully illustrated project instructions, Little Woodchucks is the perfect way to encourage eye contact and other old-fashioned familial engagements, while introducing young woodworkers-to-be to the satisfaction and good, clean fun of hands-on crafting.

Review Quotes

" A thoroughly enjoyable book that'll leave you with a craving to get creative." --Kirkus

"Want to have some fun? Little Woodchucks is for every kid--and 50-year-old woman--who wants to make something cool with their hands." --Amy Poehler, actress, co-host of Making It, and New York Times bestselling author of Yes Please

"One of the most valuable things an adult can teach a child is how to use tools and become a confident problem solver. I was lucky--my dad handed me real (and sometimes dangerous!) tools when I was just a few years old. That early experience built my confidence and gave me practical know-how from the start. In this book, Nick and Lee make a compelling case: kids need to create things with their hands. With a bit of guidance and a few simple projects, your little woodchuck will be building, designing, and bringing their ideas to life. Each project helps develop new skills, step by step. By the time your child turns 18, with the help of this book, they just might become a true artist." --Jimmy DiResta, builder, maker, and host of Making Fun

About the Author

Actor, humorist and woodworker Nick Offerman is the New York Times bestselling author of Paddle Your Own Canoe, Gumption, Good Clean Fun, and Where the Deer and the Antelope Play, as well as co-author of The Greatest Love Story Ever Told, with his wife, Megan Mullally. His onscreen credits include the Emmy award-winning role of Bill in The Last of Us (HBO), Ron Swanson on NBC's Parks & Recreation, and co-host and executive producer of NBC's Making It. In 2025, Nick will be featured in Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning, Netflix's Death by Lightning, and as the voices of Papa Smurf's brother in the Smurfs movie, and Beef Tobin in the FOX animated series, The Great North. Nick and Megan live in Los Angeles, California, with their pups and a fairly decent collection of assorted wood clamps.

Lee Buchanan got her first taste of woodworking in the Kids' Carpentry program in Berkeley, California, at the age of seven. The passion stuck, and after stints as a scenic carpenter, then building science exhibits at the Exploratorium museum, she met a guy named Nick and spent a decade running his LA woodshop, designing and building furniture and carving a whole lot of mustache combs. Lee now lives back in the Bay Area, where she builds custom furniture as LeeBuild, draws cartoons, bakes bread, and makes fun stuff for and with her two little boys in their home woodshop.