Well, maybe that's overstating it; but, in truth, Flash 5 for Windows & Macintosh: Visual QuickStart Guide combines a successful book style with a talented and experienced writer to deliver a nearly painless learning experience.

Over the course of 16 chapters, we have started at ground zero--understanding Flash basics, using the Flash editor, getting around the interface--and quickly worked our way up through simple graphics, complex graphics on one layer, complex graphics on multiple layers, using object libraries, and on through using different kinds of animation (motion tweening vs. shape tweening) and the animation of whole scenes.

Both this book and Flash 5 really start to shine in chapters 12 and up, when we begin learning how to use Flash 5 to create interactive actions. Adding sound is a big part of that, and this topic gets its own chapter (chapter 14, "Adding Sound to Movies"). Finally, chapter 16 is all about delivery and covers subjects like optimizing the Flash movie, creating the necessary HTML code, and exporting a Flash movie to other formats.