Sorche Nic Leodhas

LeClaire Gowans Alger (1898–1969) was an American writer better known under her pseudonym Sorche Nic Leodhas. 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 in 1963. Her 1965 children's picture book, Always Room for One More, illustrated by Nonny Hogrogian, won the 1966 Caldecott Medal.

Early life and education LeClaire Alger was born in Youngstown, Ohio on May 20, 1898 to Louis P. and Anna Gowans. Because she was often ill, her parents opted to homeschool her, and she learned to read as a toddler. In 1929, Alger graduated from the Carnegie Library School in Pittsburgh.

Career Alger began her career working as a page at the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh from 1915 until 1921, at which point she moved to New York City and began working at the New York Public Library. She returned to Pittsburgh in 1925 and became a librarian in 1929, retiring in 1966. Caldecott Medal, 1966

Works

As Leclaire Alger

As Sorche Nic Leodhas

As author

As editor