A friend recalls moving to the states in the 70s(he was  7 or 8) from
the UK and loving a book about living in America(I believe it was
aimed more at children or quite simplistic adult) may have been by
Richard Scarry (A name his parents mentioned but may well not have
been...that's useful..not),any help on locating this publication
gratefully received as looking to do the surprise gift thing. I really
don't know if an American Publication or English, Big thanks, K x ps
He's back in the UK!

A bibliography of Richard Scarry's books turns up no titles that seem
to suggest being about living in America.
http://www.biblio.com/author_biographies/2083114/Richard_Scarry.html

A few of them, such as "What do people do all day?" appear to be
vaguely likely candidates, but only vaguely.

"A is for America - an American alphabet" by Devin Scillian looked
like a candidate at first, but it was published in 2001.
http://www.devinscillian.com/books.htm