About the Author

---

Irene P. Reisinger has 26 years of teaching experience, nineteen spent teaching basic chemistry in a middle school. She earned her Bachelor's Degree from Fordham University receiving the university's gold medal for the graduate with the highest honors in Chemistry. She received her Master's in Science Education from New York University while working as a chemist on a medical research team at NYU Medical Center. Mrs. Reisinger possesses a rare combination of talent: a comprehensive knowledge of chemistry, a deep understanding of the middle school student, and the imagination needed to change solid basic chemistry into a fantasy tale. She created The Happy Atom Story one day when her students were not getting the lesson taught traditionally. The story was widely recognized at her middle school for its success in helping students learn chemistry. Her colleagues, especially the special education teachers, urged her to publish her story. In retirement she found the time.