About this title: With a family of twelve children, it's a good thing that both Mr. and Mrs. Gilbreth are efficiency experts. Running his family like a factory, yet acting like a kid himself, father Frank Gilbreth helps keep an already lively group even livelier. This autobiography, written by two of the Gilbreth children, details their hilarious upbringing.
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Description: McKay, Donald. Very good. No dust jacket as issued. Mass market (rack) paperback. Glued binding. 224 p. Contains: Illustrations. Audience: Children/juvenile. read more
Description: McKay, Donald. Very good. No dust jacket as issued. Mass market (rack) paperback. Glued binding. 224 p. Contains: Illustrations. Audience: Children/juvenile. read more
Edition: Bantam ed.
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Publisher: Skylark, New York, New York, U.S.A.
Date published: 1987
ISBN-13:9780553272505ISBN:0553272500
Description: Very Good. 12mo-over 6¾"-7¾" tall. Name inside cover; Slight edgewear to cover; Text pages clean and unmarked. read more
Description: Very Good. 0553272500. A Bantam starfire book; 0.6 x 6.8 x 4 Inches; 224 pages; What do you get when you put 12 lively kids together with a father who believes a family can be run like a factory and a mother who is his partner in everything except discipline? You get a hilarious tale of growing up that has made generations of kids laugh along with the Gilbreths. read more
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Bantam Books
Date published: 1984
ISBN-13:9780553250183ISBN:0553250183
Description: Good. Paper back: Ex-Library book with marks and stamps, no marks or writing within text, slight wear on edges of cover, No spine creases, tanning of pages, RTB322. read more
"I read this book many times when I was in Junior High (aka Middle School) and loved it. I also enjoyed its follow-up, Belles on Their Toes, which follows the clan after the death of the patriarch.
Cheaper by the Dozen follows a couple as they meet, marry and start a family, blithely assuming that it will be fine to have a dozen children, because "everything is cheaper by the dozen". It isn't but they don't learn that until later.
There are many hard times for the family, with stern father presiding over meals and requiring that his children, even the daughters, learn reading and math. I say even the daughters since in those days all a daughter needed was to be able to do enough math to land a man who was well off.
The main character, Frank Gilbreth, breezes into life, not through life, working to make things good for his children and his wife. A wonderful book, and on the reading list at many schools."
"I really felt bad when I found out that Mr. Gilberth died i felt like he was a very important character. But he was getting old it wasn't like it was unfair, far from it he lived a good life at least it seemed.It seemed like i was a part of the book. Reading it for so long it felt like it was for something more then good literature. It was to hear a story. It was like at the middle of Charlottes web when you find out they are going to butcher her and I remember crying feeling bad for the poor pig. And thats how I felt when I herd Mr.Gilberth Died.
I also felt that in the book the authors described his teaching methods very well and detailed. They seemed very smart and intelligent and in the book it seems like his children were taught very well. It's almost like a new way of teaching at least at the time. Also everything he taught his children had a different yet similar method.
It was something a teacher couldn't do, Mr. Gilberth teaches his kids fun and things that they would be interested. Because a teacher wouldn't just take a month of to teach you morss code or the stars. See only someone with the time and smarts and capability could teach you these things. pluse these were things that didn't need to be taught unless studying a spesific thing. But they were interesting things and maybe in emergencies they could be used.
But the truth is that it was very realistic and it was a memoir not a realistic fiction and thats the real life truth. I liked how the author found the good in his death like how his brain was sent to a college to do studies. it wasn't like it was the end of the world or the sadest thing that ever happened it was more like he is now going to heaven a peaceful calm place where he will be happy."
"I first read Cheaper By the Dozen in grade school. At a neighbor lady's house where I took French & flute lessons (simply because I was interested in doing so), I came across a wealth of old children's books from the 40s & 50s whose contents continue to influence my reading habits to this very day: the "Mostly Good, Slightly Mischievous Kid" genre.
The genre surely has a better name, but there's a pot of literature coming from the beginning half of the 20th century that focuses on children playing outside, getting on well with others, demonstrating Christian Charity and learning life lessons. This subset of the bildungsroman genre uses a strict general plot in which everything is guided by a four steps: child's world is established, child's world is upset, child's world is restored in a new, improved format, child learns a lesson.
Cheaper by the Dozen is the true story of a family with 12 children who were raised by time and motion study and efficiency experts; the book covers about 1907-1924. While it can be viewed as a general interest look at life pre- & post-WWII, the book is also curious because it teaches kids two other things:
1) Parents and kids can treat each other with respect, have fun together and still have a parental/offspring relationship instead of that "my kid is my friend" mentality. I've been curious to try out these parent-raising techniques on myself! Basically, use a combination of logic and love. Tell your kids when you're wrong--a better solution can even come from your kids, since they can see gum under a table that you're too tall to view. Also, a family council that allows children to make decisions for the household is key to a happy home--it allows for grievance airings, but the main purpose is to show & tell kids the "why" behind what happens at home, whether economically or rule-wise.
2) To be updated later!
P.S. - This book is nothing like that monstrous Steve Martin adaptation, which somehow shares the book title but covers nothing inside the book besides "gee, what happens if you have a large family?""
"We just finished this book about two efficiency experts who try out their theories on their dozen children during the turn of the last century. The book has stood up over time, as I loved it as a child and found myself laughing out loud as an adult. (The story is in no way related to the Steve Martin movie.) Being a process consultant, this book is fascinating as it details the nascent years of management consulting when process and efficiency consulting was new. The stories and pranks of the children and parents are truly enjoyable. My youngest is now going around interrupting dull or otherwise uninteresting conversations with the standard Gilbreth rejoiner, "Not of general interest," which has us all rolling with laughter."
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