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creolelitbelle's review against another edition
4.0
A heart-warming story full of laughs about a family bursting at the seams. I can hardly imagine growing up in a household like that. The chaos must've been crazy with never a dull moment. Likely things felt crowded at times, but always having someone who cares about you nearby could be nice. That two of the elder Gilbreths were open enough to share their family experience with the world is wonderful.
darbar's review against another edition
I just hated the dad and how full of himself the author was.
kerstiejo's review against another edition
5.0
A very delightful book! Too funny! One of my new favorites!
missamandamae's review against another edition
5.0
Another re-read --- One of my childhood favorites. Felt great to revisit it! Yeah, don't bother with the Steve Martin movie. This is the humorous account of a real family and their bigger-than-life daddy they dearly loved. My mom and her sisters grew up loving this book, and my siblings and I grew up loving this book. If you ever wanted to know how a large loving family functions with mostly sanity, this is the book for you. And the story isn't complete without following up with Belles on Their Toes!
cogsofencouragement's review against another edition
5.0
What a happy book full of hilarious stories about a one of a kind family.
zusy's review against another edition
4.0
I am not sure what I was expecting from this book but I do feel like I had an expectation. Which wasn't really what this book was. However, still highly enjoyable. A fairly quick and easy read. I look forward to Belles on Their Toes and reading more on Mother.
blueskygreentreesyellowsun's review against another edition
5.0
One of my favorite books of all time.
eb00kie's review against another edition
5.0
I loved this book.
A series of humorous and heartwarming anecdotes of two real-life efficiency experts and their twelve children.
The Education
You have to take your hat off for someone who managed to rear their kids and educate them at home to the point it’s described in the book. Maths, languages, Morse Code, others. Children have a mind for learning and inasmuch as anyone can do it, it is a wondrous gift to give — and receive.
My mother taught me to read at 3. Imagine 4 extra years of reading *o*
A different age
This was set at the beginning of the 20th century and published in 1948, so the characters, the values and the language all have a full foreign flavour of the past. I look at this and think how far we’ve come — but also how good it was for someone to raise twelve kids on two salaries.
The stories
Stories of growing up are their own genre. I’m not talking ‘coming-of-age’ or ‘Bildungsroman’, but the parent-child relationships are precious, strong, diverse and the stories are usually shared more within the family circle than outside of it and lost to time.
It all built up to a powerful emotional ending.
A series of humorous and heartwarming anecdotes of two real-life efficiency experts and their twelve children.
The Education
You have to take your hat off for someone who managed to rear their kids and educate them at home to the point it’s described in the book. Maths, languages, Morse Code, others. Children have a mind for learning and inasmuch as anyone can do it, it is a wondrous gift to give — and receive.
My mother taught me to read at 3. Imagine 4 extra years of reading *o*
A different age
This was set at the beginning of the 20th century and published in 1948, so the characters, the values and the language all have a full foreign flavour of the past. I look at this and think how far we’ve come — but also how good it was for someone to raise twelve kids on two salaries.
The stories
Stories of growing up are their own genre. I’m not talking ‘coming-of-age’ or ‘Bildungsroman’, but the parent-child relationships are precious, strong, diverse and the stories are usually shared more within the family circle than outside of it and lost to time.
It all built up to a powerful emotional ending.
crafty_nivette's review against another edition
3.0
I liked it. I didn't hate it and I didn't think it was spectacular. There were several laugh-out-loud situations, but there WAS a general lack of story progression, just anecdotes strung together in a basic kind of timeline. It's hilarious that a family resorted to so many tactics to get those times down...lol. And it did seem kind of odd that for all their success, the Dad hadn't prepared his family financially for what was his inevitable death. He knew it was coming...the money was seriously gone? Although after all those random gifts, I guess it makes a little more sense.