A binocular is an excellent gift for all levels and ages of astronomers. Nearly everyone who starts out in astronomy thinks that they must have a telescope. However, humble binoculars are incredibly useful for amateur astronomy and sometimes can even prove more effective than a telescope for viewing some objects.
A binocular is really easy to use and requires very little maintenance. All you need to do is hold them up to your eyes and you are viewing. Also they will give you an image in the correct orientation. Telescopes can either give the observer an inverted image, so the top is at the bottom as well as left and right being reversed; or at least often make the image left and right reversed, which can be confusing. There are good reasons for this and you do get used to it, but binoculars don't have this potential disadvantage. This then makes them ideal for beginners and younger observers, who may find using a telescope a little too challenging.