Welcome to this site. It is about ill and injured children – what their needs are, how we care for them, and what happens to them. You will find some of this information in my award-winning book, Your Critically Ill Child: Life and Death Choices Parents Must Face. It tells you the personal stories of children and their families and how they and their doctors together learned the best way to understand and take care of each other. Library Journal named it to its list of “Best Consumer Heath Books of 2007.” You can read the first chapter here.

Getting the best care for your child demands good communication between parents and doctors. Too often this doesn’t happen. A common reason is parents just don’t understand how doctors think and solve problems. You can learn how to prevent this from happening to your child in my book, How to Talk to Your Child’s Doctor: A Handbook for Parents. You can read the first chapter here.

To get better, sick children need to heal. We take healing for granted, but in fact it is a wonderfully intricate process. We rarely think about how this amazing chain of events occurs, especially down at the level of the cellular actors in the healing drama. You can meet and read about all of them in my newest book, How Your Child Heals: An Inside Look At Common Childhood Ailments. Publishers Weekly, in a featured, starred review, said the book “tackles a range of childhood injuries, illnesses, and common diseases in a fun and educational way,” and calls it “wonderfully comprehensive and wildly entertaining.” You can read the first chapter here.

Most families confront at one time or another, when their child is acutely sick or injured, the practical question: “do I need to take my child to the emergency room?” What things can wait and what things need immediate attention is something nearly all parents could use some help deciding. My fourth book addresses this question. Its title is Keeping Your Kids Out of the Emergency Room: A Guide to Childhood Injuries and Illnesses. Here is what Dr. Wendy Sue Swanson, author of the huge and influential blog Seattlemamadoc, has to say about it:

When we’re worried about the health or safety of our children, it’s difficult to know which way to turn–especially when it’s 3am! Dr Johnson’s expert and hard-earned lessons, stories, and helpful tips provide clarity in a cloudy world when our kids are sick and we’ve got no idea where to go. Just when is it okay to wait until morning and when is a midnight run to the ER essential? Although instincts serve us well as parents, this guide can be a great tool for decision-making when we’re confused and scared. Added bonus: it’s sure to decrease your own blood pressure, too!

Finally, I invite you to read and comment about these issues on my blog. It’s recently been named among the top ten pediatrician blogs by Vitals.com. I’ve also been named to a list of  “The 50 Best Mayo Clinic Doctors — Ever.” You can also ask me other questions if you wish. I have a newsletter about the latest news on children’s health topics. You can subscribe to it by filling out the form at the bottom of the page and will get an email from me with the newsletter every month or so. If you like Twitter, you can follow me here. Of course, not being your child’s doctor, I cannot give you specific medical advice about your child – that is something only your child’s doctor can do. What you read on this site is intended to supplement, not substitute for, the advice of your child’s doctor.