There is a phone called the FIREFLY that is designed SPECIFICALLY for young kids. No texting abilities. It has a 20 number memory, and a pictogram button set with a MOM button and a DAD button. I gave her the "original" Firefly.
I bought one for my niece a couple years ago
(after clearing it with my brother & his wife). It worked out well for her for a while, but it did not have the "cool" factor of the flip phones, nor the expense, nor the features like "texting." It is a good "safety" phone. It also prevents callers from calling the phone unless the parent programs the phone to accept calls from a number that is in the authorized phone list. The parents MUST program the phone before giving it to the child, but if the phone is a "lifeline" type phone, its great. If the phone is a gift so the kid can be "cool at school" then it is not the phone the child will want.
They have recently expanded their product line so now they have a few different options. One thing I like about the Firefly phones is they are a pay as you go, no contract phone. It can teach the child how to budget without saddling the parents with a contract. They now have Firefly phones with built in MP3 players, texting, etc. Still a good option.
http://www.fireflymobile.com/
In the case of my daughter, I simply gave her one of my corporate telephones because it was easiest for me to do it that way. If I did not have a bunch of other phones under a corporate rate contract, I probably would have given my daughter a Firefly phone.