Sorche Nic Leodhas (1898–1969)

Some of these made me a little nervous, or made me shiver a bit. Others had me intrigued at the mystery. The illustrations were wonderful. One of the stories that was apparently intended to be scary, was for me about grief and letting go. It helped me a lot. Another had me roar with laughter at a bit of dialogue I was convinced was a joke with five different layers. it was uh, probably not as profound for its time as I found it now. I'm so glad I read this book.

As I begin reading the e-book I see that unfortunately the illustrations have been removed, which is awful as Evaline Ness is wonderful!

The introduction is interesting and helpful. It even gives pronunciation clues - I had not idea that Cèilidh is pronounced kay-lee!

The first story is fun, and I love that the strong-willed girl is also kind and so deserves to have her way and win her choice of husband. There's an unfortunate reference to a thieving Gypsy, but children are likely to overlook show more it, or families could discuss it.

So far I say that I would have loved this book when I was a child, and now I want to own it (or the omnibus) for the rereading opportunity and the illustrations!

The second story is v. short, a St. Cuddy pourquoi tale.

The third gives us a better look at gypsies, and includes revelations about the Sidh. And oh the mother's courage and cleverness!

I love the author's voice; she makes the stories sound so musical. Reading this aloud to children would be a joy.

I looked a bit at her author page here and see that I have actually read several other books by her before. Some more are avl. on OpenLibrary, too.
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I'm enjoying it so much that I'm not making time to make notes here as I continue! I'm also going to put it on my 'to re-read' shelf. The stories are light and short, for a younger audience than many of the older Newbery books.

Themes are generally about the virtues of courage, kindness and honesty, as characters exhibiting those traits get rewarded. And in the story of the bee-keeper, it's the gypsies that actually help the young man. Often though the helper is an old woman, a sort of good witch. And often the hero is a woman.
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Done. One of my favorite Newbery honors so far in this project. Just a delight. show less

This is a Scottish Folk song set to illustrations. As a child, the author heard her father sing the song, and his father sang it to him and so on. The book contains sheet music in the back.
This is a story of a very generous man who lives in a two room house with 11 other people, yet he insists to any traveler who passes by that they come on in saying there is always room for one more! When a house full of people literally bring the house down, he is rewarded in turn.
I enjoyed this one show more because it has a good message of generosity and making friends and the rhythm of the song made it fun to read. I had to read it in my best Scottish accent!
What is interesting about the illustrations in this book is the way the people and the house are drawn in a series of straight lines in black ink with clearly defined shapes. The people contrast with the scenery which is abstract pastel colors. show less

Passed down through oral tradition this old Scottish folk tale makes its American debut in Sorche Nic Leodhas’ and Nonny Hogrogian’s warmhearted and rhythmic picture book “Always Room for One More.” The Caldecott classic provides to readers a glimpse of the good-natured way of living for rural Scottish folk. Lachie MacLachlan shares “a wee house in the heather” with a family of 12. They happily open their doors to passing travelers chanting there’s “Always room for one show more more!” A tinker, sailor, “merry auld wife” and many more squeeze into the boisterous thatch-roofed home filled with smiling, dancing and music.
Nonny Hogrogian captures the timeless folktale with black ink folk drawings and subtle shades of black, pink and olive green watercolor. The stylized illustrations successfully convey the fun and warmhearted ambience of the MacLachlan home. The subtlety in color and design captures the timelessness of this tale. If readers have trouble understanding the Scottish words a glossary is provided at the end of the story. This book is recommended for grades K-3 either as an individual read or a lively storytime read-alon show less