10 Best Books on HTML & CSS for Beginners in 2024
With HTML and CSS alone, you can start a career building static web pages from designs.
HTML is the foundation of all web pages.
HTML defines the structure of a page, while CSS defines its style. HTML and CSS are the beginning of everything you need to know to make your first web page!
We can say that HTML allows you to build the structure of your website and CSS makes that structure come to life.
In this article, we have put the spotlight on the best books for learning HTML and CSS through a collection of book reviews. Each book review will highlight the taste of the book, the contents covered, and how it can benefit you.
Why Learn HTML & CSS?
Equipping yourself with HTML and CSS skills is helpful in almost all professions. Regardless of what your job is, we’ve got a few reasons why you should learn HTML and CSS.
Easy to learn: HTML and CSS are some of the easiest scripting languages to learn. You don’t need a degree in computer science to get started. HTML and CSS offer simple sets of rules that define how to code and make the learning curve for mastery relatively easy.
Quick Career Change: With just HTML and CSS skills, you can offer service on Fiverr or Upwork and build your professional portfolio quickly.
Building blocks of websites: HTML and CSS are the building blocks of all websites. These are both used and supported widely by browsers.
Build your confidence and craft a new career: HTML and CSS currently power the internet. All big companies like Netflix, Google, and Facebook use HTML and CSS. So, you will have no trouble finding a company that can utilize your skills.
Learn other languages with greater ease: Having a handle on the fundamentals is foundational for learning other web languages like JavaScript, PHP, and GraphQL.
Additional income source: Upskilling yourself with HTML & CSS can provide you with an additional source of income. You can freelance your HTML & CSS services to individuals and build your portfolio and your confidence.
Become a front-end engineer: Solid HTML & CSS is foundational to a career as a front-end web developer.
What Makes Best HTML & CSS Books?
Here are our criteria for the selection of the books:
The book should contain a variety of instructional materials, including exercises, examples, questions, learning activities, and other features that promote the reader's engagement and active learning.
It uses clear, precise, and easy-to-understand language.
Content must be up-to-date and should thoroughly teach and explain the basic concepts of HTML and CSS.
Contain assignments for practice and hands-on experience.
The book should have a clear layout and strictly focus on HTML and CSS.
Best Books on HTML & CSS
Here are some of the best books on HTML and CSS:
1. Best book for foundations: Head First HTML and CSS
While Head First HTML and CSS is an older title, published in 2012, it is still hands-down one of the best foundational books for learning HTML and CSS. If you want to learn not just the ‘how’ but the ‘why,’ this book helps you establish a solid foundation that kicks off your entire career.
This is a true beginner book. After you walk through everything this book offers, you will want to brush up on the modern HTML concepts that have occurred over the past decade. And, of course, you will want to practice.
I love this book because it was the book that got me started; I read it cover to cover because it was just fun, and I dreamed about making this work my career.
In other words, this book changed my life. I talk more about this book’s life-changing properties in this article.
This Head First book is packed with fun scenarios and games where you write directly into the book.
Some of the contents in this book include:
Creating an HTML page
Designing and constructing a web page
Using domain names, FTP, and HTTP
Incorporating media into your web pages
Styling web pages
Using the box model
Advanced web construction, positioning, and layouts
Tables, lists, and forms
If you are intrigued by the idea of doing crossword puzzles and fill-in-the-blank exercises as well as hands-on constructing structurally sound web pages, this book is for you.
2. Best book for getting started: HTML and CSS QuickStart Guide
HTML and CSS QuickStart Guide by David DuRocher covers all of the core HTML and CSS fundamentals you need to know in one place. The book covers HTML tags, CSS elements, CSS styling, and exactly how to fit the pieces together.
The author has a unique and engaging approach to teach HTML and CSS principles. It moves from overviews of HTML and CSS to deeper, hands-on advice for creating websites. All topics are supported with abundant visual examples and a practical hands-on project! It is a great book for those learning to code and build websites.
Here's what you will learn from the book:
Modern Web Design Fundamentals: The book teaches how to use the powerful combination of HTML5 and CSS3 to build functional and responsive web pages.
Site Structure and Responsive Design Principles: The book teaches how to format HTML and CSS markup to produce attractive websites and web pages that look great on any browser and any device.
Breathing Life Into Your Projects: The book teaches how to incorporate forms, multimedia elements, special characters, and more into your web projects
Correct Markup Best Practices: It teaches how to efficiently use CSS and HTML together to produce clean, professional HTML documents using industry-standard tools such as GitHub
HTML and CSS for Beginners: It teaches formatting, sizing, fonts, images, multimedia, forms, sprites, and gradients to make your website. The book helps you in testing, debugging, and keeping your site’s code up to date.
This comprehensive, actionable, and easy to read book is tailored specifically for beginners. It is a great reference book for those learning to code and build websites.
3. Best book for kids: Get Coding!
Get Coding!: Learn HTML, CSS & JavaScript & Build a Website, App & Game by Young Rewired State is an essential guide and a great introduction to computer programming for kids. It will help them to develop key programming skills for the future.
The book includes six exciting missions explained through simple step-by-step instructions to learn the basic concepts of coding. The reader will be helping Professor Bairstone, Dr. Day, and Ernest to keep the Monk Diamond safe from a gang of dangerous jewel thieves.
Mission 1: Build A Web Page
Mission 2: Create A Password
Mission 3: Build An App
Mission 4: Plan A Route
Mission 5: Make A Game
Mission 6: Your Finished Website
The book’s hands-on approach lets readers learn the basics of coding while seeing real-time results. This educational book is one that kids will enjoy picking up, reading, then referring back to.
Other books you may be interested in:
4. Best book for beginners: Learning Web Design: A Beginner's Guide to HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and Web Graphics
Learning Web Design by Jennifer Robbins is your first stop for learning how to make web pages. It is a complete introductory-level course in web design and production.
The book is divided into five parts and 25 chapters. Each chapter provides hands-on exercises to help you learn various techniques and short quizzes to make sure you understand key concepts.
PART I. Getting Started
Chapter 1 helps you to get started in Web Design
Chapter 2 discusses how the Web Works
Chapter 3 talks about some big concepts you need to know
PART II. HTML For Structure
Chapter 4 talks about creating a Simple Page
Chapter 5 covers Marking Up Text
Chapter 6 talks about Adding Links
Chapter 7 talks about Adding Images
Chapter 8 covers Table Markup
Chapter 9 covers Forms
Chapter 10 covers Embedded Media
PART III. CSS For Presentation
Chapter 11 introduces Cascading Style Sheets
Chapter 12 covers Formatting Text
Chapter 13 covers Colors and Backgrounds
Chapter 14 guides you ti think inside the box
Chapter 15 covers Floating and Positioning
Chapter 16 covers CSS Layout with Flexbox and Grid
Chapter 17 covers Responsive Web Design
Chapter 18 covers Transitions, Transforms, and Animation
Chapter 19 talks about more CSS Techniques
Chapter 20 covers modern Web Development Tools
PART IV. Javascript For Behavior
Chapter 21 gives the introduction to JavaScript
Chapter 22 talks about using JavaScript
PART V. Web Images
Chapter 23 covers Web Image Basics
Chapter 24 covers Image Asset Production
Chapter 25 talks about SVG
Online materials are provided through a companion website to work along with the book. By the end of the book, you’ll have the skills to create a simple multi-column site that works on all screen sizes. It is an absolute beginner book and a good reference for those who are acquainted.
5. Best book for step-by-step learners: HTML, CSS, and JavaScript All in One, Sams Teach Yourself
Teach Yourself HTML, CSS, and JavaScript All in One by Julie Meloni and Jennifer Kyrnin combines these three fundamental web development technologies into one clearly written, carefully organized, step-by-step tutorial.
It is an all-in-one book that offers a detailed understanding, concepts, practical examples, and best practices of HTML5, CSS3 including jQuery.
The book is divided into six parts and twenty-eight lessons. They are well designed and simple to understand and will make it almost effortless for you to understand the topics.
Part I: Getting Started on the Web
Part II: Building Blocks of Practical Web Design
Part III: Advanced Web Page Design with CSS
Part IV: Responsive Web Design
Part V: Getting Started with Dynamic Sites
Part VI: Advanced Website Functionality and Management
At the end of the day, you will be able to design your own web pages and get them online in an instant. The lessons are straightforward with a step-by-step guide building upon the design concept from the ground up. The book includes practical examples and exercises to help you test your knowledge building up to the course.
Overall, a well-equipped book to make you an expert in the field of web design and development. By the end of this book, you will have gained practical knowledge. This book is for anyone with the desire to learn.
6. Best book for serious learners: Murach’s HTML and CSS: Training & Reference 5th Edition
Murach’s HTML and CSS: Training & Reference 5th Edition by Zak Ruvalcaba and Anne Boehm uses a practical approach and teaches you how to use HTML5 to provide the page content and CSS3 to format the content and layout the pages.
The book teaches you HTML and CSS from scratch, including the latest HTML5 and CSS3 features. The new edition is in full color, making it easier and quicker than ever to master the subject.
The book is divided into four sections and eighteen chapters. This book begins with an 8-chapter hands-on course that teaches you HTML and CSS from scratch, including the latest HTML and CSS features. The contents covered are:
Section 1 The essential concepts and skills
Chapter 1 gives you the introduction to web development
Chapter 2 talks about how to code, test, and validate a web page
Chapter 3 talks about how to use HTML to structure a web page
Chapter 4 talks about how to use CSS to format the elements of a web page
Chapter 5 talks about how to use the CSS box model
Chapter 6 talks about how to use CSS for page layout
Chapter 7 talks about how to work with lists, links, and navigation menus
Chapter 8 talks about how to use media queries for Responsive Web Design
Section 2 Responsive Web Design
Chapter 9 talks about how to use Flexible Box Layout for Responsive Web Design
Chapter 10 talks about how to use Grid Layout for Responsive Web Design
Section 3 More HTML and CSS skills as you need them
Chapter 11 talks about how to work with images, icons, and fonts
Chapter 12 talks about how to work with tables
Chapter 13 talks about how to work with forms
Chapter 14 talks about how to add audio and video to a web page
Chapter 15 talks about how to use CSS transitions, transforms, animations, and filters
Section 4 Web design, deployment, and JavaScript
Chapter 16 covers Users, usability, and web design
Chapter 17 talks about how to deploy a website
Chapter 18 talks about how to use JavaScript to enhance your web pages
The book does a wonderful job of outlining exactly what you need to build a website whether your beginner or more advanced. No matter where you stand if you read this book you will definitely gain knowledge and the HTML and CSS skills that you need on the job.
7. Best book for completionists: Responsive Web Design with HTML5 and CSS - 4th Edition
Responsive Web Design with HTML5 and CSS by Ben Frain helps you to harness the latest capabilities of HTML5 and CSS to create a single UI that works flawlessly on mobile phones, tablets, and desktops. It emphasizes pragmatic application, teaching you the approaches needed to build most real-life websites, with downloadable examples in every chapter.
You will understand what responsive web design is and its significance for modern web development. The book explores the latest developments in responsive web design and CSS, including layout with Grid and Subgrid, CSS Cascade Layers, Wide Gamut colors, and CSS Functions
As you go through the book, you will be able to:
Use media queries, including detection for touch/mouse and color preference
Learn HTML semantics and author accessible markup
Facilitate different images depending on screen size or resolution
Write the latest color functions, mix colors, and choose the most accessible ones
Use SVGs in designs to provide resolution-independent images
Create and use CSS custom properties, making use of new CSS functions including 'clamp', 'min', and 'max'
Add validation and interface elements to HTML forms
Enhance interface elements with filters, shadows, and animations
This book is well-structured and easy to understand. The topics covered in the book are:
Section I: The Fundamentals of Responsive Web Design
The Essentials of Responsive Web Design
Writing HTML Markup
Media Queries and Container Queries
Fluid Layout and Flexbox
Layout with CSS Grid
Section II: Core Skills for Effective Front-End Web Development
CSS Selectors, Typography, and More
CSS Color
Stunning Aesthetics with CSS
Responsive Images
SVG
Transitions, Transformations, and Animations
Custom Properties and CSS Functions
Forms
Section III: Latest Platform Features and Parting Advice
Cutting-Edge CSS Features
Bonus Techniques
By the end of this book, you will have a comprehensive understanding of responsive web design and what is possible with the latest HTML5 and CSS. Just pick up this book and explore new ways to look at web designing. This awesome guide for upgrading your web design skill is a must-read.
8. Best Book for Absolute Beginners: HTML, CSS, & JavaScript All-in-One For Dummies
HTML, CSS, & JavaScript All-in-One For Dummies by Paul McFedries has the essentials you need to wrap your head around the key ingredients of website design and creation. The book incorporates the latest approaches to HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, including those involving new markup, page styles, interactivity, and more.
Using the 6 books compiled within this comprehensive collection, you’ll discover how to make static and dynamic websites, complete with intuitive layouts and cool animations. It offers an extensive dive into the world of web development, covering the following aspects:
Basics of HTML for structuring web pages.
Using CSS for styling and visually designing sites.
Principles of programming with JavaScript for adding interactivity.
Developing responsive websites optimized for various devices.
Introduction to libraries and frameworks for accelerated development.
There are step-by-step instructions for new site creators explaining the very basics of page layouts and animations. You will gasy-to-follow advice for adjusting page color and background, adding widgets to a site, and getting rid of all the bugs that affect site performance.
Overall, the book offers clear presentation of material, accessible for beginners without prior knowledge.
9. Best Book for Web Developers: HTML and CSS: The Comprehensive Guide
HTML and CSS: The Comprehensive Guide by Jürgen Wolf teaches you to format, structure, and design your web pages with HTML and CSS. You will learn to build HTML documents, design with CSS, and get a hands-on introduction to JavaScript basics.
This book includes 800+ pages of expert knowledge about HTML and CSS, with an introduction JavaScript. There are detailed code listings used throughout the text and available for download. Here’s what you’ll get from the book:
Master HTML syntax and document structure. Work with tags, elements, and attributes to build HTML documents. Create tables and forms, embed images, configure links, and develop interactive HTML elements.
Develop simple and complex web layouts with CSS rules, selectors, declarations, combinators, pseudoclasses, and pseudoelements. Understand the principles of cascading, specificity, and inheritance. Learn to use the CSS box model, the position property, and more.
Expand your knowledge with an introduction to JavaScript. See how to use variables, statements, functions, arrays, and objects to write and run simple programs. Explore the basics of Ajax for interactive web application design.
Throughout this book, you’ll find useful, hands-on code examples to support your learning. It offers diagrams, charts, tables, note boxes, definitions, and a comprehensive index.
I highly recommend this book to all who want to learn HTML and CSS.
10. Best book for Visual Learners: HTML and CSS: Visual QuickStart Guide, 9th Edition
HTML and CSS: Visual QuickStart Guide by Joe Casabona teaches you how to design, structure, and format your website with HTML and CSS. This new edition features more than six hours of instructional video that guide you through HTML and CSS, getting you up and running with web development in no time.
Here’s what you’ll get from the book:
Designing, structuring, and formatting sites
Using images, links, styles, tables, and forms
Adding media, visual effects, and animations
Using CSS to gain full control over elements, fonts, colors, and layouts
Making the most of sophisticated HTML5 and CSS3 capabilities
Applying modern best practices for ensuring accessibility and responsiveness
Principles of testing, debugging, and publishing sites and applications
Exploring leading JavaScript libraries and build tools for more advanced web development
The images in the book feature concise steps and explanations, while the videos enhance and expand the information in the book and provide an alternative method for learning. The book includes twenty five chapters and includes the following topics:
Chapter 1 gives an introduction to HTML and CSS
Chapter 2 talks about creating a Website on your computer
Chapter 3 covers HTML Syntax
Chapter 4 covers Basic HTML Elements
Chapter 5 talks about Links
Chapter 6 talks about Structure and Layout with HTML
Chapter 7 covers Media
Chapter 8 covers Tables and other Structured Data Elements
Chapter 9 covers Web Forms
Chapter 10 talks about Advanced and Experimental Features
Chapter 11 gives an introduction to CSS
Chapter 12 covers Targeting Elements
Chapter 13 covers Styling Text
Chapter 14 covers Color in CSS
Chapter 15 talks about using CSS for Page Layout
Chapter 16 talks about Layouts with CSS Grid and Flexbox
Chapter 17 covers Responsive Design and Media Queries
Chapter 18 covers CSS Transformations and Animations
Chapter 19 covers CSS Variables
Chapter 20 covers CSS Preprocessors
Chapter 21 talks about getting your Website Online
Chapter 22 talks about Testing Your Website
Chapter 23 talks about Improving Website Performance
Chapter 24 covers Web Accessibility
Chapter 25 talks about Going Beyond HTML & CSS
More Ways to Learn HTML & CSS
So these are the 7 best HTML and CSS books for beginners. Whether you are a beginner or an experienced programmer, the books described above will guide you on that path to success. Check out the ones that serve your needs and we hope you will succeed in your endeavor.
There are also a few online courses on the list that let you learn HTML and CSS.
Coursera: HTML, CSS, and Javascript for Web Developers will help you learn the basic tools that every web page coder needs to know. This course teaches how to implement modern web pages with HTML and CSS. It takes approximately. 40 hours to complete.
Codecademy: Free interactive courses. For more on Codecademy’s premium offerings, see my Codecademy Pro review.
Learn HTML: Learn all the common HTML tags used to structure HTML pages, the skeleton of all websites. You will also be able to create HTML tables to present tabular data efficiently.
Learn CSS: Learn to style web pages. You’ll be able to set up the correct file structure, edit text and colors, and create attractive layouts.
Udemy: Web Design for Beginners: Real World Coding in HTML & CSS is an 11-hours high-rated course with 71 lectures and 51 downloadable resources. It helps you to launch a career as a web designer by learning HTML5, CSS3, responsive design, Sass, and more.
If you are on a budget or just explore, I have also compiled free resources on learning HTML and CSS. They are quality and I highly recommend them.
Thanks so much for reading this article to the end. See you in the next one.