ALTERNATIVE NOVEL REVIEW: INVISIBLE CHILDREN'S BOOK INSTRUCTION MANUAL BY NICHOLAS ALLEN TILLEMANS

Invisible Children's Book Instruction Manual
Nicholas Allen Tillemans
Publisher: Amazon Digital Services
Pages: 25

From the writer who gave us Acetone Enema, a collection of short horror stories, comes this, a change from his usual fare that is as unusual as it is enlightening. In the blurb it asks the burning questions of what a parent wants a child to get out of their bedtime reading and whether it is at all one sided on the parent's part. Everyone wants to get something out of reading to their child, but there is the need to get the child to interact with the parent and see things on a new level they might not have thought of before.

As mentioned above, Nicholas Alan Tillemans has spent a lot of time honing his horror talent with his collections of short stories, now he has given readers a chance to see what he can do other than his brand of hard-core horror. For those who have liked and enjoyed it, it's fine, but for those who wanted to see a different side to the family man, he has provided it in a concise and fun way that puts the fun into fantasy.

The book starts with "The Invisible Book Advantage" and goes into how the book will work and how it will change the world of book reading forever. The main points are that the book is invisible, and weightless, and does not require light, and as it isn't a device like an iPad, it doesn't need to run on electricity. It's easy to use and from what Tillemans says, it's also quite a rare thing to own so children will be itching to get their hands on it. It isn't the sort of book that can be bought, though. So if a person who used to own one loses a copy, the instruction manual tells the person that they can hunt down a copy in nature.

I liked the idea of an invisible book being mentioned to a child at bedtime. It's not the sort of thing you would say to a child, so it makes for a wonderful premise as well as the sort of short informative book you would expect from say, Neil Gaiman. Books are supposed to be enjoyed, and this is one, even at twenty five pages can be a short and enjoyable read. What is the point of reading a lot of text to a child when you can read a nice short work that will serve to entertain and also be kept in your child's mind. It is rare that parents read to their children these days so there is something to be said for reading aloud as it helps children to be able to read before they are at the age to go to school. This, as you might have guessed is a bonus in itself as who doesn't want to see their child excel at school.

I think that Tillemans has brought us a very interesting look at what he can do when he isn't writing about horrific situations he can put his characters in. It shows he is a versatile writer who knows his craft and put his mind to almost anything.


Originally published on SF Site.