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3.92 AVERAGE
3.92 AVERAGE
What a delightful tribute to a unique and special family. I loved the way it was written that felt like a collection of stories, yet it still had a great arc and in the end you realized it was more of a tribute to their father. I got some great ideas from this book about how to nurture kids and create an environment for kids to grow up in.
I love that the dad was portrayed in a loving yet honest way. You could see his flaws and shortcomings, yet you could definitely feel the love he had for his children and how much they loved him back. This would be a great audiobook to listen to with kids.
I love that the dad was portrayed in a loving yet honest way. You could see his flaws and shortcomings, yet you could definitely feel the love he had for his children and how much they loved him back. This would be a great audiobook to listen to with kids.
LOVED this nostalgic memoir.
Having an old soul myself, this dated memoir was highly enjoyable. There were some laugh-out-loud moment, some rolling-my-eyes chapters, and plenty of love and sweetness among the family of 14.
Particularly adored the ending lines-
"But what do you save time for?"...
... "For work, if you love that best," said Dad. "For education, for beauty, for art, for pleasure."
Having an old soul myself, this dated memoir was highly enjoyable. There were some laugh-out-loud moment, some rolling-my-eyes chapters, and plenty of love and sweetness among the family of 14.
Particularly adored the ending lines-
"But what do you save time for?"...
... "For work, if you love that best," said Dad. "For education, for beauty, for art, for pleasure."
Low 4.
It was like watching an old white person family sitcom in a book. Fun and funny. Also interesting to see how we all go through similar things, whether now or a century ago.
It was like watching an old white person family sitcom in a book. Fun and funny. Also interesting to see how we all go through similar things, whether now or a century ago.
My favorite parts of this book were the discussions of the actual efficiency studies, which sounded pretty fascinating - I loved when the father would request to observe the laziest employee to see how little effort needed to be expended to accomplish something - and the practical discussions of fashion, technology, speech etc of the day. The descriptions of photography and cars at the time were interesting, but paled in comparison to the in-depth conversations about women's underwear and the "cootie garage" hairstyle!! The two major downsides of the book to me were pretty much any discussion of race (which ranged from dated and cringeworthy at best to frankly offensive at worst), and the father himself - he initially struck me as a tyrant, but grew on me toward the very end of the book. I liked the description of how the mother evolved by the end, as well.
The story of the Gilbreth family, who had 12 children. Lots of laughs.
This was a fun read aloud for my own big family. It does have remarks and a couple scenes that are what we would now call racist, and some language, so it was good to edit as I went and not hand it over for kids to read themselves.
This book took me completely by surprise. It was hilarious and touching and adorable. Shamefully, I associated this title with what seemed like a crappy Steve Martin movie and didn't even realize there was a book. Then I stumbled on it at the library one day, and I'm really glad I did. However, beware the randomly tragic ending, though I am glad to know there's a sequel.
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
Very funny, easy read. I think it is a fun look not only into the dynamic of this particular family, but also an interesting look at the times, and perceptions of the early 20th century family.
great book of stories! if you go the audiobook route, cover the one read by Dana... somebody. i forget her last name, but she's an excellent reader.