First off, I wish to thank Earl and azslacker for their input on this.
My granddaughter got a used uke for Christmas from one of my son's friends whose kids had outgrown it. She will be 4 soon.
Previously in the "what instrument besides guitar" thread, I had posed a question about what age to start her on guitar. Earl posted,
"I would start her on ukulele, not guitar. Uke is a much better size for young hands and arms, and you can get a decent one for less that any half-playable guitar would cost."
So I kind of figured this spring would be a good time to start teaching her. Well the uke gift pre-empted the timing, and the timing is now ASAP. Knowing she would be getting the uke and noticing that azslacker was big into ukes, I pm'd him about getting one. His reply was,
"Don, I'd suggest a Tenor size uke. You can put a wound low G string on it and it will sound just like the top 4 strings of a guitar, capo on the fifth fret. The brand I usually suggest for a first uke is Kala. They are available just about everywhere online. Sweetwater, Amazon, etc. I'd spend at least $x. The model I like, even over higher priced ones is the KA-ST. Looks like some listings call it KA-STG."
I took his advice and got one from Sweetwater. Great service and arrived promptly, well packed and in great shape. Also got a gig bag in the shipment and a couple of books elsewhere. The uke is solid wood, mahogany and spruce, and quite handsome. This all went down just prior to Christmas. I am very pleased with this so far, even though I haven't done much yet due to Christmas and the flu.
So ukuleles are my new year's project, one I am looking forward to.
Thanks again to Earl and azslacker, and also for the existence of this friendly forum.
Don