Sorche Nic Leodhas

Who was Sorche Nic Leodhas?

LeClaire Gowans Alger was an American author 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 book Always Room for One More, illustrated by Nonny Hogrogian, won the 1966 Caldecott Medal.