I beg to differ Smiling; for the average and somewhat acclimated WoW player sites like Thottbot, Wowhead and Wowwiki are fantastic resources. For the beginner, however, the guides can be quite helpful, especially in the case with a younger player who may need things spelled out a bit better and who may find trying to make sense of some of the database sites rather confusing and subsequently frustrating. And while the game does do a fantastic job of getting you accustomed to the basic controls and the way the GUI works and how specific mechanics function, the scope of the guides is well beyond that.
There's a compilation of World of Warcraft that comes with the game and its only expansion, and coincidently includes two easy to follow strategy guides which help develop a base knowledge for the game as well as help beginning players with their starting areas, dungeons, etc. As for the statuettes, there is a company out there that produces figurines based on a player's actual in-game avatar and while somewhat expensive I'm sure he'd get a kick out of seeing himself (in polygonal form) sitting on a shelf somewhere. Here's a
link. There are also some official figurines out there as well, though I can't remember which company produced them (DC, possibly) and so I can't help you there.
Just a word of caution however, at 13, 30...even 65, people who get themselves involved in MMO's often lose that sense of responsibility that allows them to regulate how many hours they spend logged in. I don't think it's particularly unhealthy for young kids to play these types of games; especially for shy children who can learn to develop social skills in a different environment from the ones they're usually involved in. However, I was the guild leader of a large raiding guild in WoW and had quite a few kids in the roster and not all of them knew when enough was enough, even the good ones. I would suggest monitoring his playtime and making sure that he's not spending every waking moment questing.