author
H. N. W. B.
A prolific 19th-century American writer and editor, she created popular stories for young readers that blended everyday drama with moral and religious lessons. Writing under names including Madeline Leslie and Aunt Hattie, she became widely known for books that aimed to entertain while shaping character.
1 Audiobook
The load of chips
by H. N. W. B.
About the author
Born Harriette Newell Woods Baker in Andover, Massachusetts, on August 19, 1815, she went on to become a well-known American author of children's books and an editor. She published under several names, including Mrs. Madeline Leslie, Aunt Hattie, and H. N. W. B., and built a long career writing for young readers.
Her work was especially known for its moral and religious tone. Sources describe her as highly prolific, with roughly two hundred works to her name, and note that Tim, the Scissors-Grinder was among her best-known books. Project Gutenberg also lists H. N. W. B. as an alias for Madeline Leslie, connecting that byline directly to her larger body of fiction for children.
She died on April 26, 1893. Though not as widely remembered today as some of her contemporaries, her stories remain part of the rich tradition of 19th-century juvenile literature, where kindness, discipline, and faith were often placed at the center of a young person's journey.