Chapter Seven states, "Mr. Avery averaged a stick of stove-wood per week." Jem and Scout wonder who made the soap dolls—what does all this...

This quote in Harper Lee's To Kill a
Mockingbird, is a reference to how long it takes Mr. Avery to whittle a piece
of wood. The idea here is that someone working with wood would take a long time to do
it, and would need to be talented to accomplish such a
feat.

Jem and Scout look at the soap figures—that look so
like them—and wonder who could have made the dolls. They are made of soap and show a
great deal of detail which indicates an enormous amount of talent. They can think of no
one who might have done so.

However, this gives the reader
new information: if it is, in fact, Boo Radley who is leaving these gifts, he not only
cares about the children enough to give them gifts, but he is a talented young man in
spite of all the hardship he has experienced. It also makes one wonder what he might
have done had his parents handled his teenage "mistake" more
compassionately.