Sorche Nic Leodhas

LeClaire Gowans Alger (May 20, 1898 – November 14, 1969) was an American writer better known under her pseudonym Sorche Nic Leodhas, or simply Sorche Leodhas. Born in Youngstown, Ohio, she was a sickly child, eventually being homeschooled. Alger was a known librarian, working from 1915 to 1966, while the imaginary Sorche was a storyteller. She sought out traditional Scottish tales that had never been written down before. She won a Lewis Carroll Shelf Award in 1962 and a Newbery Honor for Thistle and Thyme: Tales and Legends from Scotland in 1963. Her 1965 children's picture book Always Room for One More, illustrated by Nonny Hogrogian, won the 1966 Caldecott Medal.

Awards

 * Lewis Carroll Shelf Award, 1962
 * Newbery Honor, 1963
 * Caldecott Medal, 1966

Works
Most of Leodhas' works are in collections.


 * Heather and Broom: Tales of the Scottish Highlands (1960), illustrated by Consuelo Joerns
 * Thistle and Thyme: Tales and Legends from Scotland (1962), illus. Evaline Ness
 * All in the Morning Early (1963), illus. Evaline Ness
 * Gaelic Ghosts: Tales of the Supernatural from Scotland (1964), illus. Nonny Hogrogian
 * Ghosts Go Haunting (1965)
 * Claymore and Kilt: Tales of Scottish Kings and Castles (1967), illus. Leo and Diane Dillon
 * Sea-Spell and Moor-Magic: Tales of the Western Isles (1968), illus. Vera Bock
 * By Loch and by Lin: Tales from Scottish Ballads (1969), illus. Vera Bock
 * Twelve Great Black Cats and Other Eerie Scottish Tales (1971), illus. Vera Bock