What’s a good beginner pocketknife for an 8-year-old?

Q. I want to buy a pocketknife for my 8-year-old nephew. He has just started a pocketknife collection and has about 8 knives. Can you recommend a good knife for a boy that age?
— Aunt Debra, Houston, Texas

A. You must be a cool aunt to be buying your nephew a knife! Will you be my auntie too? OK, seriously, good knives for an 8-year-old? Here are two that I think he’d be sure to dig:

• BSA Official Cub Scouts Pocket Knife ($19.99; www.scoutstuff.org) You just can’t go wrong with the official Cub Scouts pocketknife! It’s got a stainless steel 2¼”-long blade with a flat head screwdriver, cap lifter and punch blade folded inside.

• Gerber Mini Paraframe ($16.26; www.gerbergear.com) This folding knife has an open stainless steel handle, which makes it both lightweight (just 1.4 ounces) and cool-looking! The 2.22”-long locking blade is high carbon stainless steel with a fine edge and it comes with a handy pocket clip too.