Howard J. (Howard James) Chidley

Born in Ontario in 1878, Howard James Chidley was a Canadian-born minister and religious writer whose published work focused especially on children. His best-known books include Fifty-Two Story Talks to Boys and Girls and Story Sermons for Children, works that turned short moral lessons into lively, accessible stories.

Chidley also had a long career in the Congregational ministry in the United States. Contemporary and later records connect him closely with Winchester, Massachusetts, and a later biography of his life describes him as an influential pastor there for many years.

He died in 1966. Today he is remembered mainly through his devotional and instructional writing, which reflects an early-20th-century effort to make Christian teaching engaging, readable, and welcoming for younger audiences.