carving- which wood

I am not much of a carver, in fact, I think maybe what I do is closer to whittling. But I have managed to do a couple things, when the need arises.

My little girl is nuts for dolphins lately. I found a nice pattern, I think I can cut much of it with a scroll saw, then start to shaving it down to look right.

I have a hunk of mahogany (luan I think, not too heavy anyway), a hunk of very very old poplar, and a large basswood board. The relative value of the wood to me, is inverse to the order listed. The mahogany is a little scrap that has been hanging around forever. The poplar is a nice size piece, more likely to be used one day if I leave it as long as it is now. Cut a foot off- and I will have two little hunks, instead of one smallish board. The bass is a fairly big board, purchased for my son (16) to carve upon one day. I sorta gave it over to him, but so far, it has sat (for at least a year) untouched. He has done some good work, and has been in the shop some this year carving, but all smaller things.

I am sure the bass would be the easiest to carve, but I might not want to spark any new sibling rivalry by using “his” board for his sisters gift.

How difficult would it be to carve in the other two boards? would they be much more difficult than the bass? I hate to go out and buy more wood for one little project, I have so damn much around as it is. Like, I have a hunk of curly maple that would be the perfect size for this. But I am thinking that wood is way beyond my abilities, I do not use power carving tools.

Thoughts?
(hey, the time I just spent writing this, I could be done with the saw work already!)

-- Dan V. in Indy