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A review by bethgiven
Cheaper by the Dozen by Ernestine Gilbreth Carey, Frank B. Gilbreth
3.0
So, have you seen that movie with Steve Martin that came out a few years ago about the family with twelve kids, “Cheaper by the Dozen?” Don’t feel like the movie spoiled this book. There are a few “themes” that are the same (i.e., driven, successful parents raising a dozen children), but the details of the story have been completely altered in the movie. I guess they didn’t really want to remake the other “Cheaper by the Dozen” movie you can catch on TCM every once in awhile.
(And, if you were unfortunate enough to have seen the sequel, “Cheaper by the Dozen 2,” rest assured that the book is even farther away from THAT storyline. The book had me busting up in laughter whereas the movie never did.)
I think part of the fun of this book is knowing that the stories are true. They’re written by two children of the Gilbreth clan (and while that’s not obvious, you might notice that their stories seem to play more into the vignettes in the book than the other children of similar ages and situations). Their descriptions are never overbearing or showy (Frank Gilbreth, Sr. would be proud to see they were efficient in their writing) but have just enough details woven together to draw you into the situations. I read a few of the stories aloud to Nathan, and we laughed and laughed over one story in which Bill, the family prankster, pulled a joke over on his dad — who was undoubtedly the source of Bill’s sense of humor.
The storyline centers around the love in the family, stemming from the parents. The patriarch of the family, Frank Gilbreth, is quirky and makes for a base to almost all the comic material in the book. His studies in factory efficiency tend to translate over to his family, where he raised a little army of Renaissance men and women who utilized every free second to listen to language records and learn multiplication tricks. Frank’s wife Lillian is the pillar of the family, always in control, making me wonder if she was exaggerated to fit the fifties “June Cleaver” mold or if her kids loved her so much that was honestly how they saw her. I love the dedication in the book: “To Dad, who only reared twelve children, and to Mother, who reared twelve only children.”
A fun, quick read.
(And, if you were unfortunate enough to have seen the sequel, “Cheaper by the Dozen 2,” rest assured that the book is even farther away from THAT storyline. The book had me busting up in laughter whereas the movie never did.)
I think part of the fun of this book is knowing that the stories are true. They’re written by two children of the Gilbreth clan (and while that’s not obvious, you might notice that their stories seem to play more into the vignettes in the book than the other children of similar ages and situations). Their descriptions are never overbearing or showy (Frank Gilbreth, Sr. would be proud to see they were efficient in their writing) but have just enough details woven together to draw you into the situations. I read a few of the stories aloud to Nathan, and we laughed and laughed over one story in which Bill, the family prankster, pulled a joke over on his dad — who was undoubtedly the source of Bill’s sense of humor.
The storyline centers around the love in the family, stemming from the parents. The patriarch of the family, Frank Gilbreth, is quirky and makes for a base to almost all the comic material in the book. His studies in factory efficiency tend to translate over to his family, where he raised a little army of Renaissance men and women who utilized every free second to listen to language records and learn multiplication tricks. Frank’s wife Lillian is the pillar of the family, always in control, making me wonder if she was exaggerated to fit the fifties “June Cleaver” mold or if her kids loved her so much that was honestly how they saw her. I love the dedication in the book: “To Dad, who only reared twelve children, and to Mother, who reared twelve only children.”
A fun, quick read.