she was born in oslo, norway. she worked on the saturday children's hour ("lørdagsbarnetimen") on nrk radio during the 1940s. in the 1950s, she was a literary critic for "arbeiderbladet" and "verdens gang". she graduated in 1953 with a dissertation on the development of norwegian children's stories. she was associate professor of children's literature at the state library college ("statens bibliotekhøgskole") (now oslo and akershus university college) from 1968–94 and served as president of the norwegian association for women's rights from 1972-78. she also wrote a number of books on children's literature.