J – Johnny 

Johnny Goes to the Hospital is a booklet that was used for many years by Boston Children’s to help prepare children for their first stay in a hospital. It follows a young boy named Johnny, taking the reader step by step through Johnny’s entire hospital visit including diagnostic work like a blood test and an x-ray, receiving anesthesia for an operation, recovering in the ward, and returning home.  

This book was written by Josephine Abbott Sever, an accredited psychologist, eduational consultant of the American Social Hygiene Association and consultant in Parent Education in the Division of Child Hygiene at the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. She was for many years on the staff of the Judge Baker Guidance Center in Boston, and Director of Public Relations at Boston Children’s Hospital. 

Sydney S. Gellis, M.D. collaborated with Mrs. Sever in writing this book. He was a physician at Boston Children’s and assistant professor of pediatrics, Harvard Medical School. The illustrator, Mary Stevens, came to Boston where she observed and made countless drawings at Boston Children’s. Her pictures of Johnny, his bear, the doctors and nurses, and the many parts of the hospital which Johnny sees reflect her observations at the hospital. 

Other books in the “Johnny Series” were designed to allay a child’s fear of their first doctor visits: Johnny Visits the Doctor, 1955; and Johnny Visits the Dentist, 1957.