Petra Kaiser's book on Glass Fusing is a great place to begin your exploration of warm glass. The book is layed out very well, highlighting important information, for example, by providing tables of temperatures when different things happen to glass...slumping, tack fusing, full fusing, etc. A beginner needs to know about equipment and supplies, kilns, safety, and all about glass itself... Kaiser covers everything you need to know to start out working with fused glass. Then she puts you to work, where you learn as you do! I like the way she takes you though a series of 15 projects, all of which build on each other, expanding your knowledge at the same time as you reinforce important skills, such as glass cutting. As an artist I also found that all projects were easily adapted to my own aesthetic, therefore they did not have to be copied exactly to learn the intended lesson. As a former art instructor, I recommend it highly because it not only provides you with basic information -- it also provides you with hands-on experience.