Well I have ordered for my nephew
Gods in the Sky: Astronomy from the Ancients to the Enlightenment
I was told he was into books and had an interest in science and history, so this seemed the obvious choice to me, but I bet my younger sister might still think it is too old for him, just like she said about Phil's book without even seeing it. (It cost £4.92 + £2.75 p&p = £7.67 from Amazon, Although IIRC when it first came out it cost a lot more and that higher price is on the dust jacket
)
I now have to find equivelant stationery sets for the other two (nieces)