Dr. Buzz is a nickname my older sister Nancy gave to me. When we were kids it was mostly C-Buzz or Honey-Buzz, and sometimes Buzzard if she really wanted my attention. When I received my Ph.D., Nancy added the title. So Dr. Buzz is me, Carol A. Johmann, author or co-author of the hands-on learning books featured on this site. My co-author on most of them is another sister (I have three), my youngest, Elizabeth J. Rieth. I like to use my nickname when I give presentations to kids in schools, libraries, and bookstores.
How we got started
Liz and I got started writing science activity books because her oldest daughter, Jessica, complained that there was not enough science being taught at school. She was in the third grade then and is now 26, so you can see how much time has passed since this story began. Liz's response was to start an after-school science club, the Explorers, which proved to be wildly popular. At first, though, Liz could not find information about setting up an elementary school club and said so at a family holiday dinner. That's when I said she should write a book. And that's when she asked if I would help her.
I had been in magazine reporting and writing for a decade, and she figured I knew something about the publishing world. I did, but not much and we both found we had a lot to learn about writing books and getting them published.
That first book on how to set up and run a science club never did get published. Instead, one of the publishers we sent the proposal to offered us another book to write. That's how Science Works came into being as well as two other books with the same publisher, Gobble Up Science and Gobble Up Nature. After that we switched to another publisher, Williamson Publishing Company, which is now under Ideals Books.
What's it like to collaborate with a sister?
Well, the first thing to say is that it's both good and bad, though for us the good far outweighed the bad. The best thing about any collaboration is that "two heads are better than one." Together you have a wider variety of ideas, two different perspectives evaluating those ideas and the writing, and a broader range of skills and experience. In our case, I had experience as a published writer and Liz provided the know-how of setting up the club. She had a clear idea of what activities worked and why, and what interested kids of all ages. Once we started writing, we realized our writing styles were fairly similar so it wasn't hard to blend our writing together.
The bad part is that you don't always get your way. Collaboration takes lots of cooperation. Sometimes you have to compromise about what you include in the book or take out, and how you say it. Because Liz and I are sisters, we know each other very well and trust each other, which is important for co-authors. We can usually come to an agreement, even after a heated discussion (OK, argument), and still get along both as sisters and as co-authors.
All text on this site copyright © 2001-2004 Carol A. Johmann, all rights reserved.
Individual activities on this site may be printed for use at home or by a teacher for use in a single classroom.
The reproduction of any activity, in whole or in part, for an entire school or for commercial use is strictly prohibited.
Original art, photographs, and the Dr Buzz logo may not be reproduced in any form for commercial or educational
use without the written permission of its owner, Carol A. Johmann. Contact her for all inquiries.
Carol Johmann, Ph.D.
Children's Author
Who Is Dr. Buzz?
