hi cathy, sounds like a wonderful surprise, you didn't specify methods of construction, stitch and glue is around 100hrs of building and painting time,strip building 2or 3times that. Costs for s&g are around 1/2 that of strip in kit form. My bias is stitch and glue because I like to get the boat in the water, and am scared of the table saw. Designs? Pygmys Arctic 14? haven't seen one if it's higher volume than the pygmy 13 then it would be a good choice. ClC's chesapeake 16 or LT 16 is another one, Not to slight Nick and his work but he must have something going for this typical size person. Nicks brother has a design call Merganser that looks good. I find women and kids are a little more stable than top heavy guys so don't be swayed by narrow boats unless she wants a bird watching platform. A gift certificate to instruction (basic,open water,rolling) would be a most rewarding gift to her. have fun