Web site design made simple.

For Ialeen Chapman's class at Dearborn Heights Montessori Center in Michigan, she uses only one book as her textbook: Dave's Quick 'n' Easy Web Pages: An Introductory Guide to Creating Web Sites. In her Web design class, Chapman says the book, written by a 14-year-old boy, the same age as her own seventh- and eighth-grade students, is the best book to explain HTML. "I was looking for a book that did not have a zillion pages and was not so technical that I didn't even understand it," Chapman says. "I recommend it for anyone just starting out who wants to learn HTML."

Chapman has students read the chapters each week and then answer questions as homework. The students use the book as a guide, keeping it by their sides when working. "The book is self-explanatory and they can pretty much make the page without my help," she says. The students also ironically "enjoy" problem-solving when something does not look the way they want it to, Chapman says.

This 116-page book was written by Dave Lindsay of Canada who started typing at his computer at home and created a simple Web page in about 40 minutes. Now a computer engineer student at the University of Calgary, 19-year-old Lindsay runs his own company designing Web sites and custom-building personal computers. This book shows the reader where to find free Web design resources and also guides the reader step-by-step to create a site, beginning with a simple page.

CIRCLE #550 FOR INFORMATION