Sorche Nic Leodhas

LeClaire Gowans Alger (May 20, 1898 – November 14, 1969) 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.