Nominated for the Critics’ Prize 2021

The book deserves many readers.
Marianne Lystrup, Vårt Land

“Try Not to Laugh” gives a charming voice to children who struggle with social skills.
Siri Larsen, Barnebokkritikk.no

(…) packed with reflections on life – some spot-on and others shaky. It’s sensitive and delicate and funny.
Anne Cathrine Straume, NRK

(…) a really carefully thought-out book (…) well-chosen metaphors, lovely, appropriate descriptions of the environment and the landscape in which the story take place – and a big dose of crazieness. The last aspect is perhaps the best of all.
Karen Frøsland Nystøyl, Periskop

Kaja moves from the city to a small town. Kaja’s mum thinks it’ll be good for her, but Kaja is dreading it. She’s starting at a new school after a few difficult episodes at her last one. Kaja is sharp and energetic, but finds the whole business of making friends scary and hard. And when something’s hard, Kaja has a word she likes to repeat to herself: Roygbiv. It’s an acronym for all the colours of the rainbow. Kaja finds rainbows comforting. They appear by themselves, transforming the rain into something magical.
Kaja’s birthday is coming up, and while her mum is busy thinking about how they should celebrate, Kaja has only one thing on her mind: How do people make real friends? She could never have guessed what the answer would be!