Harmonica

"Give a man a fish, he eats for a day, but give that man a harmonica and he's always got a fallback career." OK, that may not be how the proverb goes, but with this starter instrument your child may have all the harmonica needed to play in a blues band. Green plastic valves are sandwiched between two shiny silver plates, making this a dependable, well-built buy. No instructions are included, which promises for some initial "hee-haw, hee-haw" trial tunesmithing, so you might want to accompany the gift with a how-to book for your little musician. --Keith Simanton