I don't see why a VB.Net book would have examples in VB6. It is probably a VB6 book. Buy a newer book. And I would not recommend you start with Access as your database (and 2003 is way outdated anyway). I'd recommend a book on SQL Server 2008. Here are some books that might interest you:
You will only need one of those two last books on SQL. The first one is cheaper and will cover only the basics of the syntax shared between different flavors of SQL. The second is specific to SQL Server 2008. There are many other books you could choose from, but those should get you started.
You can download the express editions of VB and SQL Server Management Studio from
Microsoft.