I suspect Chris Pye's Woodcarving Course & Reference Manual: A Beginner's Guide to Traditional Techniques would be worthwhile. He also has a subscription web site w. videos. His technique is quite fine, and the info can be generalized to work w. many different kinds of figures.
I was lucky enough to have first hand instruction by an accomplished sculptor. As CV3 says, if you can get to a carving club, seeing someone in action, and able to answer questions is much more informative than pouring over books.
Traditionally, working in 3-D was the last thing a student did. Years of drawing, starting from pattern books and gradually moving up to drawing from plaster statues was standard. Before I started w. wood, I spent time modeling clay and carving wax. Both are soft, and in the case of clay, easy to mend mistakes. Much of the early stuff I did was relief, which was not too different from wood carving for print making. Still, moving into works fully in the round was a big step.
And almost nothing I did was on as small a scale as stick carving.
So, don't expect quick results, tho' you might get the hang of it quickly.
This brings up a fond memory for me.
Here is a shot of a statue my teacher did later in his life. It was a large challenge. He had only small, blurry photos to work from, and had done mostly abstract works for some years before. On the way, there were many small maquettes, and finally, a life size terra cotta bust. My recollection was that the statue took about 4 years. This from someone who had spent at least 40 years practicing various arts.
