Cheaper by the Dozen (Perennial Classics)

I bought this for my 13 year old granddaughter who loves to read. I did not realize there are several swear words in the first chapter (there might be more throughout the book, but that's as far as she got). So beware if you are getting this for a child.

I first read this book probably fifty years ago, and read it again to see if it was still as enjoyable. I guess life looks different to me now than it did back then, as all I could think about during this reading of all the seaside vacations, constant gifts, servants, and expensive houses this family enjoyed, was how at this same time my grandmother, who had lost her husband to pneumonia in 1924 after just having their 8th child, was barely able to feed the family, and how the children, including my father, worked in the fields of California from the age of four, while the Gilbert children were taking sailing lessons during their summer break. I hope they knew how fortunate they were.

I'm surprised by how few of the other reviewers found the paterfamilias of this book irritating, as I did. He bloviates [Amazon, this word is marked as misspelled when it is not - please correct your dictionary] at the dinner table, dismissing all other attempts at conversation as "not for general interest." He bellows and honks multiple loud horns when he drives, and he drives so poorly he scares everyone half to death - but no one is allowed to abstain and stay home, because when Father wants to go driving, everyone has to go. He forces the children to run when he whistles no matter what they might have been in the middle of doing (what if someone was stricken with diarrhea when His Master came a-whistlin', or simply in the middle of a good book?). He forces the children to skip grades even if they don't want to or don't feel ready. Physical punishments for simply taking, in Father's eyes, too long to learn something abound, including heads being smacked hard with pencils and bodies being hit with a rope. It's all depicted in a lighthearted manner, but I still see a dictator rather than a "fun" parent. For crying out loud, he admonishes the oldest child, Anne, that he will put the fear of God in her [paraphrasing] because it's her responsibility to keep the younger children from misbehaving while they're out and about on one of those godawful drives that no one except the father enjoys. Even when Anne says desperately that she's trying but that no one's listening to her, he still yells at her. Yeah, he and his wife contributed Great Things(TM) to time & motion studies, but in my opinion, they were awful parents. The second-worst offense was dragging poor Lill on a cross-country train ride 3 weeks after she broke a foot bone (the book doesn't specify which bone). She's described as lying on a couch in the train car, "crying in pain," and her mother is ignoring her as she's trying to feed the also-crying, motion-sickness-blighted baby. No one wants to be dragged on vacation when their foot's injured. The worst offense was making the children have their tonsils removed, including Martha, who has just ingested a great deal of food. Firstly, read that again - the father MADE his children have their tonsils out, not because it was to their benefit, but because he wanted videotape of surgeries being done - and one of the children was full of food when she went under anesthesia. That actually could have killed her; there's a reason why they make you go 12 hours without eating before they put you under. They knew she was full of food, too. They actually dragged her, practically kicking and screaming, from her aunt's house, where she'd been having a lovely time. She made it clear she did not want her tonsils out, as did the other children. What a loving family.

The movie and book are both a delightful. A fast read.

Let’s just say this was required reading in 8th grade , and it was probably before some Amazon customers were even born. Yes , I’m that old.As I recall, this was the story of a big family . I believe they were fairly well off and their dad was possibly an efficiency expert of some type ? I may be wrong on the job part, but I remember that there were so many kids that the dad had strict rules as to who did what and when, so their family ran smoothly.As said , it’s been a very long time since I read it , but I remember liking the book .. I’m sure it would be G rated. I grew up in a majority- religious town, and the parents wouldn’t have approved of the school assigning a book that had anything off- color.

It almost seems a bit silly to write of a review of this because surely most people know of it already! But, in case you don't: Lillian and Frank Gilbreth were important time/motion-study experts in the early part of the 20th Century. Frank had no college and was very outgoing. Lillian was more introverted and eventually earned a PhD. But they were true partners. When they married, they decided they wanted to have 12 children, ideally 6 boys and 6 girls. And they did. :-) Then, Frank thought it fun and useful to run their household on time-motion principles. Frank Jr. and Ernestina Gilbreth (the authors) were two of these dozen children who became writers when they grew up and who wrote this story about growing up in this fun and unusual family. The writing style is breezy and amusing and probably about for 10-year-old and up independent reader. Adults can also enjoy this very much. Cheaper By the Dozen Is very funny and I highly recommend it. And if adults become interested there is an excellent biography of Lillian called Making Time. And there is a also a second Frank and Ernestina second book called Belles on their Toes--less funny and probably for slightly older children, but still funny and easy to read. [The heading of this review is from Frank Jr.'s and Ernestina's dedication for the book (Frank sometimes said he thought stopping at 12 was too few)].

I loved this movie growing up (the original, not the remake). When I needed a biography for a reading challenge, I thought this would be fun. A lot of it I can picking my head from the movie, but a larger amount of detail is included in the book... plus more stories that didn’t make the movie. A light read, with humor and nostalgia, and a little bit of sad. I’m glad I picked this one.

It was fun & satisfying to spend time with an old favorite. I first read this as a middle schooler, and though the setting of the book is "before my time," it still brought back many fond memories. My dad was a brash, outrageous, life-of-the-party character with a big heart for his family--similar to the Gilbreth dad. I enjoyed this quick trip to the past--the Gilbreth kids & mine.

Un récit bien écrit, dont l'authenticité nous transporte à chaque page. On suit avec attention la vie de cette famille hors du commun qui pourtant nous rappellera forcément, par certains côtés notre propre histoire.A conseiller à tous ceux qui connaissent déjà la version française, pour y découvrir quelques subtilités difficilement traduisibles. Rien à voir en tout cas avec le film et on s'en félicite.

I absolutely loved this book when I read it as a kid.

Moved along at a great pace, full of humorous anecdotes. It was a light but interesting read of an unusual but interesting family. Would recommend to anyone looking for a true, humorous story.

très bon roman d'histoire d'une famille nombreux, génial pour son écrit fluide et qui me fait rire tout le temps!

Amazing book. Must read. My all time fav since school