Robin is a wonderful teacher.
I have one of her books, get her newsletter and always enjoy watching her talk songwriting on TAXI TV.
I've lost count of how many songwriting books I've read over the years. I'm always interested in what other songwriters have to say about how they approach the craft.
For a beginning writer, I always recommend the book 6 STEPS TO SONGWRITING SUCCESS by Jason Blume.
You can check out
http://www.jasonblume.com/index.html for more about Jason. You can get the book from his site, any book store or grab a used copy cheap from ebay.