If there's a child in your life that shows an interest in magic, I have a couple of items to recommend as gifts.
The first is Magic For Kids. It's a DVD that isn't overly polished, but stands out because it features children performing and teaching the tricks. The explanations are clear, the tricks are good, but the best part is the encouragement and role modeling this approach provides. Particularly for girls, since it's not all little boys doing the tricks. I've given this disc to a few youngsters and it has been a hit.
If you'd rather give a book, an instinct I completely understand, then the recently published Hocus Pocus is a great choice. It's a nicely produced, hard cover book from Scholastic that features a great young readers story about magic history. Your youngster will learn true and amazing stories from magic's past (which is rich and fascinating, by the way) and will learn about 30 or so good beginner's tricks. And it includes an introduction by the actor who played Harry Potter, an endorsement that is sure to carry a lot of weight with young wizards. It's inexpensive, educational, and fun. What more can I say?
Also see my earlier thoughts and recommendations in Teaching Magic to Kids.