A great starter/beginner/real bow is the Hoyt Rintec XL. This is a bow made for smaller frame archers, not necessarily kids. My wife shoots one and it is a great bow. It is a Hoyt all the way through and shoots super sweet. I feel it is the best bow out there for beginners who are smaller framed. Lots of length adjustments and weight variation. Most other small bows are "kids" bows and just not this kind of quality. Good luck getting him into the sport! Maybe you will catch the bug as well!