By Renee Martinez
Red Sled, written by Patricia Thomas with illustrations by Chris L. Demarest, is a wonderful book for fathers to share with their sons.
It follows a father and son on their sledding trip, and really captivates the special moments they shared on this snowy adventure. The unique thing about this book is that the text is written in rhyming two-word sequences, like “Red sled” and “knit mitt” – the author was inspired by an ancient writing/poetry pattern called chiasmus, which arranges words to mirror each other. Combined with the big, colorful pictures, the cleverly written text is so much fun to read out loud.
What I liked most about Red Sled is the simple, yet descriptive, text. I would also recommend it for boys who are just starting to read – it includes many “sight words” and the rhyming format makes it easy for kids learning new vocabulary. Definitely a good choice when curled up with your little one on a snowy day. A very sweet book where a father and son were able to be rambunctious boys together, which is something quite special…so Dads – check it out!
About the Author: Renee Martinez consults and speaks professionally on social media marketing, integrated marketing communications, public relations and branding. She is the president of Ruby Marketing Communications (www.rubymarcom.com), a boutique marketing communications company that specializes in providing branding, social media strategy and integration, and creative services. Her blog (www.lisac95.sg-host.com), provides resources on everything marketing and social media for her active audience.
Renee has contributed as a featured monthly columnist in the monthly jewelry industry publication, JCK on matters related to internet marketing as well as in InStore Magazine as a featured blogger where she writes about developing effective marketing strategies for the jewelry industry using social media. She is the founder of: Social Media Biz Summit (www.socialmediabizsummit.com), the first large-scale SM conference to come to Buffalo, NY; #jewelrychat, a weekly twitter chat for the jewelry industry and www.RaisingBoysWorld.com. Renee teaches social marketing courses at Canisius College in Buffalo, NY for the business school as well as offers small group social media marketing training and educational seminars for businesses in Western New York and beyond.
Renee has dabbled in internet marketing arena since the early 90′s and is not ashamed to call herself a “marketing geek”. From chatting in AOL, “sharing” music on Napster, and teaching HTML classes before it was considered “cool” to developing comprehensive social media strategies, effective public relations campaigns and managing online communities (most recently Chevy Girls Buffalo).
She enjoys being able to help people find their voice online and to create buzz about their product or service that will give them the results they desire. Renee can be found on Twitter (@reneemmartinez) and Facebook (http:/www.facebook.com/RubyMarCom).
