For starters, you'll need Visual Basic (obvious, I know...).
I don't know of any books you could buy to get you started, although I'm guessing there's a 'Dummy's Guide'; most people I know (including myself) just played around with it- it takes a few years to learn well enough to do more complicated programs this way, but it's more enyoable!
If you're impatient, try using the Help files, or find the sample projects- they're in the 'Microsoft Visual Basic\samples' folder, and are well worth a look for a beginner.
If you need any more help, I could send you a few of my old projects...just email me.
Good luck!
Regards,
Intrigue
r_w_e_c@hotmail.com