Look Mom! I Built My Own Web Site

By Zohar Amihud

Book Overview

A simple guide to building an entire webpage, this book enables kids to create an entire five-page site from scratch complete with built-in menu. Everything needed to create a site is presented,... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0976011107
• ISBN13: 9780976011101
• Release Date: January 2005
• Publisher: Bookchamp
• Length: 190 Pages
• Weight: 0.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 7.5" x 9.0"
• Age Range: 8 to 12 years
• Grade Range: Grades 3 to 7

Customer Reviews

Excellent!

***** This is an EXCELLENT guide for beginners! I had my niece come over for a weekend to try it out. Following the step-by-step directions, we created a simple, free web site. Nothing fancy, but plain either. This book begins the creating of a site OFF the internet. In simple words and terms the first few chapters get the "newbie" (for lack of a better term) used to the computer, its files/folders, and inner workings. My niece is around ten-years-old and had only a few problems. I believe that kids around third grade could successfully use this guide. But if you are an adult who is new to computers, this book is perfect for you as well. The newbie will learn to create a folder on the hard drive at first. Do not worry, there are clear illustrations throughout the book to show you EXACTLY what should be on your monitor. (Added tip for newbies: Put a Notepad short cut on your desk top for easy access.) Next you will learn about open and closed "tabs". You must understand this part. One error and the page will not work or look correctly. Again, the book CLEARLY shows what you should see. From here on, things get easier. If you do not understand something, go back. If everything is clear to you, then the rest will be a cinch. By now you are in chapter three or four. You will learn about formatting, viewing sources, adding images, links, color and different font types. Next comes cells, tables, how to embed an HTML page within another HTML page. Illustrations show you the way through it all. From here the book will explain things that you should NOT publish on your web site for all the world to view. This is followed by how to register with free web hosting sites. (Added tip for newbies: Consider using Geocities for your first site. It is easy, free, and gives a good amount of space.) All-in-all, we found this book to be very easy to understand and follow. I highly recommend it for all beginners. ***** Reviewed by Detra Fitch of Huntress Reviews.

Excellent!

***** This is an EXCELLENT guide for beginners! I had my niece come over for a weekend to try it out. Following the step-by-step directions, we created a simple, free web site. Nothing fancy, but plain either. This book begins the creating of a site OFF the internet. In simple words and terms the first few chapters get the "newbie" (for lack of a better term) used to the computer, its files/folders, and inner workings. My niece is around ten-years-old and had only a few problems. I believe that kids around third grade could successfully use this guide. But if you are an adult who is new to computers, this book is perfect for you as well. The newbie will learn to create a folder on the hard drive at first. Do not worry, there are clear illustrations throughout the book to show you EXACTLY what should be on your monitor. (Added tip for newbies: Put a Notepad short cut on your desk top for easy access.) Next you will learn about open and closed "tabs". You must understand this part. One error and the page will not work or look correctly. Again, the book CLEARLY shows what you should see. From here on, things get easier. If you do not understand something, go back. If everything is clear to you, then the rest will be a cinch. By now you are in chapter three or four. You will learn about formatting, viewing sources, adding images, links, color and different font types. Next comes cells, tables, how to embed an HTML page within another HTML page. Illustrations show you the way through it all. From here the book will explain things that you should NOT publish on your web site for all the world to view. This is followed by how to register with free web hosting sites. (Added tip for newbies: Consider using Geocities for your first site. It is easy, free, and gives a good amount of space.) All-in-all, we found this book to be very easy to understand and follow. I highly recommend it for all beginners. ***** Reviewed by Detra Fitch of Huntress Reviews.

Websites made simple...

The first thing I noticed upon opening the book, 'Look Mom! I built my own website', is the colour. Pages are presented in visually interesting format, which is important for the age group particularly targeted, but also useful for adults who are following along as children are doing things (and, of course, sometimes a how-to book for children can be right at the level that a technologically-challenge adult might need). Zohar Amihud encourages the younger website builders by offering them a review of their websites, too. On the very first page, the reader is invited to submit websites to be reviewed and linked to the book's own website. One of the primary pieces of information offered here is that there are ways of building websites free of charge - this is particularly important for younger people who want a presence on the web but cannot afford to pay for space, or who most likely don't have credit card accounts and paypal access. Another great advantage of the book is that it is practical - it doesn't spend a lot of time on theory, but rather gives short, easy to understand instructions for how to do basic things - working with text and fonts, placing graphics and images, dealing with colours, menus, tables, and more. The information on finding webhosting for free and getting domain names and other services (which sometimes do have a cost attached, but are not required for a website) is fairly generic, but useful in that internet sites and offerings change at a rapid pace, but the ways to find out about them are generally fairly stable. There is also a chapter on promoting and advertising your website. You'll certainly want people to visit - that is the point of the website. One thing that this chapter is lacking is more of a concern for internet presence of minors in a world that can sometimes be unsafe - a bit more discussion about safety and privacy concerns on the internet would be a useful improvement. This is a very useful book, one that middle school and high school students should have no problem following, and even the advanced elementary student might find some of the basic lessons instructive.

Friendly And Useful

I must admit that before reading this book I did not view building a web site as a early teenager activity. Never having done this type of activity, I incorrectly assumed that this was a process that was as difficult as say building a microwave oven from scratch. After reading the book I have revised my view of the process and understand that I was not giving kids enough credit. The book is geared toward kids with some help from parents, creating a basic web site. It gives the read a nice step by step process that is not intimidating. The authors did a good job of helping the reader not get lost in a blizzard of tech heavy terminology. I think the biggest advantage of the book is that fact that it makes it easy for the parent to understand. Lets face it, kids are far more quick to pick up on this computer stuff and the book also helps the adults understand what they are doing. Overall I enjoyed the book. It is easy to read, it has a nice format and layout. It is easy to follow and I found that there were enough pictures which made for a clearer understanding. The authors even put the book out in a format that makes it easy to have it lay open on a desk so that you are not constantly having to open the book and locate your page after it accidentally closed.

Perfect gift that special young Web designer in your life

From the very beginning of the book, the author engages the young reader with simple yet clear instructions on how to perform the basics of Web design and creation, proceeds all the way to creating complete Web sites, and even presents useful tips on getting the site on the Internet and promoting it! The chapters are logically ordered such that the reader can start at the beginning and sequentially proceed through the entire book without having to jump around. This makes the reading process more enjoyable and easier for young children not accustomed to the typical technical book, which has you continually referencing other chapters and pages. The book's initial chapters are dedicated to tasks such as creating the reader's first Web page and working with text, links and images. From there, the book continues into the areas of using color, creating tables (a difficult task for anyone!) and working with navigational menus. At this point - only 100 or so pages into the book - the reader has already created a **fully-functional Web site**!! The last 3 chapters are then focused on "publication tasks" such as how to make the new Web site "live", or viewable by others on the Internet, how to choose a Hosting Server for your Web site and even how to promote your site! SUMMARY: This book covers everything the young Web designer needs to create their first site and does it with clear, yet non-patronizing, language. If you're thinking of giving the special young person in your life the opportunity to learn a trade that will help them down the road as they begin their adult life or if you're simply wanting to get him or her interested in something they can do for fun or hobby, this book is a must-have addition to their library!