Are there any good books/online tutorials covering C that would be helpful in learning how to program the nerdkit? I've seen a few books but are there any specific ones I should look at?

I really like Smiley's Workshop from Nuts and Volts magazine.

Smiley (Joe Pardue) has a rather comprehensive AVR focused website, he has a good selection of AVR C programming books his prices might be a little high but this gives you a starting point. If you see a book of interest you could google it or go to Amazon, but then again it is nice to support the folks that help you out.

Check out his home page to see some other interesting stuff.

Joe also is a frequent contributor over at AVRfreaks.

My favorite C programming book is still Type and Learn C

You would probable want a used book for $0.32 versus a new one for $130.19.

They have been out of print for a long time.

Ralph