Following the Captnduck tutorials [1] and using the Lazy Newb pack [2] got me pretty far.

[1]: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHVZtRdtPdo [2]: http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=59026.0

O'Reilly has a book for this: "Getting Started with Dwarf Fortress"

http://shop.oreilly.com/product/0636920022565.do

Looks good so far, although I'm not more than a chapter into it yet.

You could also move to the reddit forums for DF, they tend to be more newbie frequented, but you could always just lurk in the vintaged Bay12forums.

ask your brother :-)