Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating: 
Summary: A Fun Entry-Level Tome on Standards-Based Web Site Development
Comment: I teach college courses on Web development that emphasize Web standards and usability. This is one of only two entry-level (X)HTML + CSS books that I will recommend to students.
"Head First.." is a fun and lively book that is very much aimed at ordinary folks who are having a hard time figuring this stuff out. It's pleasurable scenarios and tongue-in-cheek humor push learning toward the authentic and affective.
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Great, fast read. Want to give 5-stars...
Comment: I read this book from cover to cover, doing most of the exercises. Knowing HTML previously but new to CSS this was a wonderful introduction.
My only wish that could make it better is if the index was more comprehensive. As I started to create my own pages based on the learning, it was difficult to refer back to ideas because the index does not list many things. It's a pain to then search page-by-page in the chapter.
This is my only issue. I actually love this book!
Customer Rating:
Summary: Great Book but...
Comment: This is a great book for anyone wanting to learn HTML and more. I'm usually someone who needs to have hands on training in order to learn but this book makes me feel as though I'm in a classroom. It's well written and makes learning an otherwise dull topic fun. The only bad thing is the binding on it is coming off. This started right out of the box. Unfortunately, hearing from others taking the same online course, this seems to be a recurring theme with this publisher's books. Content of book is great though and that's what counts!
Customer Rating:
Summary: I love this book!
Comment: I've been using HTML for quite a while, but I really didn't understand it -- largely because I couldn't bring myself to care. I just used my cheat sheet a lot.
Having worked through thsi book, I understand it all well enough to remember it.
This is the first book in the Head First series that I've used, and I hesitated because of the price. I already had an HTML book, and it seemed like an extravagance. It is absolutely worth it.
Now that I've emoted over it, let me describe the book for you.
It's like a good language book. This is very sensible, since HTML is a language of a sort, but I've never seen it before.
Instead of big blocks of code you're supposed to copy, the book works through concepts and patterns, with plenty of exercises and graphics to clarify it all before you're expected to take it to the keyboard.
There is an element of cuteness here, but it's sharp, not silly, and there is nothing extraneous. The entire book is designed to work with the way human brains learn information.
You'll work through everything from basic structures to getting your pages on the web to CSS. The natural "Wouldn't it be easier to...?" objections are presented, with explanations of why taking early shortcuts leads to regrets later. This is a good alternative to trial and error.
I'm going to order my next Head First book right away.
Customer Rating:
Summary: A really wonderful tutorial, with a poor binding
Comment: I really like the approach as a tutorial. It is an excellent introduction to HTML / CSS / XHTML. I am repeatedly amazed at the considerable thought that must have gone into the presentation of the material. The exercises are clever and the tone is engaging. From Chapters 1 -15, the tutorial progressively ramps you up and has you doing hands-on along the way. It gives you confidence.
The only aggravation is that by Chapter 10, sections of pages started to come undone from the binding. At over 650 pages, the book is a heavyweight. The binding seems too constricting for it. At first, it resisted staying open. Once it "relaxed", it began to slowly separate. It progressed to whole clumps of pages coming unglued from the binding and detaching. Other books have given me years of like-new service, but this one will soon be unusable.
I gave the book only 4 stars because it is falling apart. Actually, I would rate it this way: Book content, approach and presentation=5 stars. Binding=0 stars. At over $26, a book ought to hold together, at least long enough to read through it once.
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