Pencil is VERY cool, my ds loves it, and it is free. However it is not as useful on windows as it would be on Mac -- they are still working on some of the exporting of movie files on windows.
The Bamboo pen+tablet is what we finally ended up with for him and it is pretty intuitive and he took to it quite quickly. Just a small tablet, maybe 6"x8" is adequate.
But we are moving onto another animation software intended for windows and for 3d work, but that has not gone as smoothly for various reasons. Can't say much yet, but will post back.
