Unique wooden Janosch Tigerduck toy

My kids got as a gift this great children book by Janosch. The book contains all of the Panama-stories (link to a Finnish online bookstore). My kids love to hear the stories about Little Bear and Little Tiger, and what is the best, I like to read them!

There is this little Tigerduck toy that can be seen in almost every page. It seems to be great fun for kids to try to spot the toy from different pages, over and over again.

I was trying to look for toys based on these Janosch books and characters, but could not find any from local toy stores or supermarkets. So I decided to do one by myself! Here is one image from my kids unique Tigerduck wooden toy.

The toy was made about two years ago, and has been played with quite a lot since given to kids, so there might be some marks from playing. I basically made the toy in our kitchen, with quite a limited set of tools. I know, it could be better, but my friends and family could not tell it was handmade by me! And when the toy is also accepted by children, I am pleased.

The wheels are connected with long screws, that were cut to correct length. To secure the wheels, I riveted the ends of the screws. I used non toxic paints, found from ordinary hardware store. I did not buy black paint for eyes, I drawed them with a waterproof marker. I used tape to mask yellow base color before painting brown stripes.