Cheaper by the Dozen (Perennial Classics) | Frank B. Gilbreth, Ernestine Gilbreth Carey

Cheaper by the Dozen (Perennial Classics) | Frank B. Gilbreth, Ernestine Gilbreth Carey | Cheaper by the Dozen

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Cheaper by the Doz...

	Cheaper by the Dozen (Perennial Classics) Frank B. Gilbreth, Ernestine Gilbreth Carey Harper Perennial Modern Classics, 2002 - 224 pages average customer review:based on 149 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Nice Old-Fashioned, Humorous Book

When Frank and Lillian Gilbreth married, he said he wanted to have an even dozen children and Lillian was happy to oblige, having six boys and six girls. Frank and Lillian worked as efficiency experts and Frank employed efficiency techniques at home including figuring out how to shave in the quickest amount of time; how to dress as quickly as possible; having everyone in the family get their tonsils removed at the same time; and holding an Assembly Call in which he whistled and timed how long it took the family to gather together. Frank was the disciplinarian while Lillian was willing to look the other way when the children acted up. Together they had all kinds of adventures, some on land, some at sea, many of them hilarious.

Written by Frank Gilbreth and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey about their childhood, "Cheaper by the Dozen" is a very funny, old-fashioned read. The father stands out among all the characters, with his strict ideas about discipline and efficiency, yet having a nice sense of humor. Some of his ideas were a bit much, like having his children skip grades to get through school faster. While Frank is larger than life (literally), his wife Lillian is a more quiet character, seemingly in the background until you realize how much control she has over her husband. With twelve children, it's hard to keep them all straight, but a few of them stand out. Bill stands out most notably, with his penchant for playing practical jokes. He has some of the funniest moments in the book - like when he turns the table on his father who liked to scare them with his car horn; almost knocking the cook in the oven; or terrorizing his Aunt Anne. The other children who stand out are oldest daughters Anne and Ernestine who have the unenviable task of dealing with their father as they start to date. The book is more stream of consciousness than chronological and it can be hard to keep track of how old the children are. The book is full of humorous events including family trips in the car which always caused people to stare; family council meetings; a visit from a woman representing birth control who had no idea how large the family was; boat trips; and a visit from a psychologist. The book also has brief biographical sketches of both Frank and Lillian, although Frank's service during World War One is barely touched on. Although the book is humorous, it still touches on the difficulties of raising a large family, notably when Lillian had to travel by train from Boston to California with seven children who were sick for much of the trip. Some parts of the book made me cringe, especially when Martha had her tonsils removed after eating a heavy meal and when Lillian, tired of waiting at the hospital for her baby to be born, walked home while in labor. Still, most of the book was very funny.

"Cheaper by the Dozen" is a nice, humorous read.

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Cheaper by the Dozen

Excellent reprint of the 1940's classic with an interesting new foreword by Ernestine that brings us up to date wrt the main characters (particularly siblings.) Highly recommended!

Cheaper by the Dozen

This book was a gift for my daughter. She is reading parts of it to her children. They love it.

So Enjoyable! Good Family Read

We started listening to this on tape first. Enjoyed it so much we bought the book to finish reading it out loud. 10 year old son couldn't wait and read it himself. My husband read it out loud and did the voices. What a treat! We all laughed so hard. There is some light cursing which you can skip over if reading aloud. My kids quote from this book all the time.

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Cheaper by the Dozen

by:breanna

Cheaper by the Dozen is about twelve kids, the mom, and the dad.
The main character is the dad who is offered the job of a life time in a different city. No one else in the family wants to move except the parents.
They say it will make them a stronger family but it really doesn't. They actually loose their family bond because the parents are always gone.
Mark one of the younger kids felt that he didn't belong in the family so he ran away. The whole family joins together and goes out looking for Mark.
His dad figures he would go to his old house (the midland house) and I'm not telling you the rest because it would be the end of the story!

Why I liked the book
& who I would recommend it to.

I like the book because it is very funny and I can relate to it.
Even though I have 5 people in my family and they have 14!!!!

I would recommend this wonderful book to someone that has a big family and is happy about it.

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