Basic Kanji Book Vol.1 and Vol.2 are the books that got me started in learning Kanji and that I always recommend to people that is starting to learn Japanese. During my first year in Japan I used these two books intensely and was very happy with the results. The two volumes teach 500 basic kanjis in a very pedagogic way; they include boxes where you can improve your handwriting skills, and also include exercises to practice with the kanji you’ve just learned. I definitely think they are the best books to learn kanji out there!

There is also a continuation of the books called Intermediate Kanji Book; however I feel that once you have learnt the 500 kanjis and are reaching a good level with kanji what you need to do is to focus on learning more vocabulary and read A LOT.

Maybe the books are a little bit expensive but totally worth it if you are serious about learning this beautiful language. You can buy them at Amazon here and here.