Flash? I believe
www.macromedia.com has some free trials there you can use. Last I checked, there were tutorials included in the software. You could also probably find some of those books about the software in a computer store or whatever, but they never really helped me much.
Flash is pretty complicated, and the best way to learn it once you finish the tutorials is to simply keep using it. It's quite quirky and a lot of times if you don't do things the right way, it won't work. Eventually, after you use it for a while you just sort of develop a "feel" and the glitches should not be too much of a problem.
Past that, the way I continued to learn was to watch others Flash movies and see what they did.
www.newgrounds.com while not very child-friendly, has a lot of Flash artists who submit their works in order to get feedback. Although the percentage of good movies there is extremely low, given the amount of submissions that really is a lot. I'm currently considering whether or not to submit my movies there...
But the best Flash artist, hands-down, is easly Legendary Frog. Check out
www.legendaryfrog.com His attention to detail, wonderful humor, and charming art style is only just part of the reasons why his movies are so well loved. He is my inspiration, and if I could get my flash movies to be half as good, I will be satisfied.
As for getting the software itself, I can't really help you there. It's quite pricey for some reason, like $300 or something, probably because hardly anyone actually pays for the software. Since all you need is for it to be installed to work, you're best off getting a friend and *ahem*
