I've been trying to think through the various books I have to recommend one. The thing is, when I'm dealing with herbs, I think it safe to have at least three. Each by a different author. So if you are unfamiliar with an herb, you can get a well rounded profile of it, of contra indications, or different perspectives, etc.
Generally speaking, most of the herb books I have give a basic preparation instruction in the front.
I'm pretty excited as an acquaintance of mine has Motherwort she's going to let me harvest. I need to do a little research though as I don't have as much experience with fresh herb. I tend to just get dried because of simplicity and storage. And the preparation of fresh is slightly different.
For a start up, you could look up YouTube videos by Susun Weed as she often has short videos teaching you about the plants around her house and simple preparation as well.
I'm pretty sure she's gone over dock and plantain at least.
