Paul Heins, Editor of The Horn Book Magazine

Paul Heins

When he joined Cricket’s Editorial Advisory Board, Paul Heins was editor of The Horn Book Magazine, which critiqued children’s literature. In 1972, Heins refereed what may have been the most controversial series of articles ever published in The Horn Book: a heated exchange between author and literary critic Eleanor Cameron and author Roald Dahl, sparked by her withering criticism of his popular book, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. After publishing the fiftieth anniversary issue in 1974, Heins handed the editorial reins to his wife Ethel, a librarian and experienced reviewer.

Born in 1909, Heins grew up in Boston. After graduating from Harvard, he taught high-school English in Boston for thirty years, breaking only for military service during World War II, and to study Anglo-Saxon at Oxford from 1954 to 1955 on a Ford Foundation Fellowship. It was his wife who led him to appreciate children's literature.