I think this is a great book for beginners. They give you some easy plans to follow step-by-step (so you don t screw-up) so hopefully by the end of the book you can really do some damage by yourself. Bonus: They give you all the source codes and pictures so you don t have to start from scratch.
http://rapidshare.de/files/2960406/Wiley_50_Fast_Flash_MX_Techniques.pdf.html
http://rapidshare.de/files/2960406/Wiley_50_Fast_Flash_MX_Techniques.pdf.html