Not only do I agree with Irish and feep, but will go a step further and advise that you NOT get him a book on how to fly, as this may give him the feeling that he can learn by himself - and that is most unlikely. A local club that you can find by searching the AMA website http://www.modelaircraft.org/clubsearch.aspx is your and his best bet.

Then again, depending on the depth of your pocketbook, you may wish to get him one of the very good flight simulators designed for model airplanes, which will give him a very good starting point so that when he does get to the field with an instructor he will learn and be able to solo that much more quickly. One of the best simulators is the Great Planes Realflight, at http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...&I=LXHXV6&P=ML

Good luck and Merry Christmas to both of you!