Cheaper by the Dozen (Perennial Classics) [Paperback]

Frank B. Gilbreth (Author), Ernestine Gilbreth Carey (Author)

Book Description

Release date: May 28, 2002 | Series: Perennial Classics

What do you get when you put twelve lively kids together with a father -- a famous efficiency expert -- who believes families can run like factories, 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 and adults alike laugh along with the Gilbreths in Cheaper by the Dozen.

Translated into more than fifty-three languages and made into a classic film starring Clifton Webb and Myrna Loy, Cheaper by the Dozen is a delightfully enduring story of family life at the turn of the 20th century.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Gay and lighthearted...One of the most amusing books.” (The Chicago Sun-Times )

“Always entertaining, occasionally hilarious, occasionally touching....Sound Americana.” (Saturday Review of Literature )

"Instructive, funny, and very readable." (School Library Journal )

From the Publisher

No growing pains have ever been more hilarious than those suffered loudly by the riotous Gilbreth clan. First, there are a dozen red-haired, freckle-faced kids to contend with. Then there's Dad, a famous efficiency expert who believes a family can be run just like a factory. And there's Mother, his partner in everything except discipline. How they all survive such escapades as forgetting Frank, Jr., in a roadside restaurant or going on a first date with Dad in the backseat or having their tonsils removed en masse will keep you in stitches. You can be sure they're not only cheaper, they're funnier by the dozen. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Harper Perennial Modern Classics; Reprint edition (May 28, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 006008460X
• ISBN-13: 978-0060084608
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.3 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (182 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #13,065 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #49 in Books > Humor & Entertainment > Humor > Parenting & Families

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

35 of 37 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the funniest family books ever April 9, 2001

By Joanna Daneman #1 HALL OF FAMETOP 10 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback

I used to giggle over this book as a kid. It was a huge hit amongst my classmates, and we wore through several copies of Cheaper By the Dozen.

The Gilbreth family of 12 kids, parented by efficiency experts Lillian and Frank, were a bit eccentric and very funny. I still can remember the line one of the kids rapped out to a guest at dinner "Please, we are NOT in the mood for an organ recital." This was the standard reprimand for belching in the family and never intended for public airing.

The Gilbreths were actually serious innovators of efficiency for the new factory assembly lines, figuring out the number of movements needed to complete a task and establishing a unit of work movement called the Therblig. They were also warm, funny, loving parents and their story is a good one to read out loud to kids, who invariably love this book.

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars "Cheaper By The Dozen" October 16, 2001

A Kid's Review

Format:Paperback

Has a story been so good that it made you laugh out loud? Well Frank B. Gilbreth and Ernestine Gilbreth Carry wrote an excellent biography of their childhood titled, "Cheaper by the Dozen." It is a very funny book. It is full of all the adventures the Gilbreth family went throgh in the first two decades of the 20th century.

Can you imagine having to take care of 12 kids and a dog? That would be a pretty hard job. I love reading this book especially when their father (Mr. Gilbreth) was teaching the kids Morse code. All over the house on every wall was Morse code. The kids had to find out what they said. Some would say, "Go to my room and under my bed is a deck of cards."

I encourage any one who loves non-fiction biography to read this book. I am sure you will like it too. If you don't like it in the beginning you should stick with it because it gets extremely good at the end.

31 of 36 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A neccesary and very funny read...... December 12, 2001

By Barbara

Format:Paperback

The first thing I have to say about this book is that it's funny and will make the reader understand how a super large family really can make it financially.
I read this book the first time because it was required in junior high (now known as middle school). I just read it again with my teenage daughters to maybe bring some understanding to them about saving time and money and that time is money. This father is the king of creative spending and overlapping chores to save time.
A very enjoyable book to read. This is an excellent book to co-read with your children of any age and might help you get a few frugal points accross to them.
It's a comical read laced with some very neccesary ideas of financial knowledge.
This is a quick book to read, and in my case a shared time of family financial understanding. Don't pass up reading this fun book. It'll make you laugh and think..."That's a good idea." reading about dad's fanatical penny pinching ways.
A great story that everyone should read.

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars By jingo! December 14, 2000

By A. Woodley

Format:Paperback

My mother used to read me this book when I was growing up in the 60's and 70's - but when we lost our copy we could never find another one - they were as rare as Hen's teeth - and we definitely wanted another copy. What a relief to see it is reprinted, and to find that the stories are just as funny and wonderful as they ever were.

This is a book about the Gilbreth family; Father, mother and twelve (yes 12!) children. Most especially this is the story of the Father, and his time-motion studies which he applied in work and in life. He was a time and motion expert in the first couple of decades of the twentieth century - travelling internationally and showing the new factories how to improve their production by increasing their efficiency.

This book has been written, with great affection and humour, by two of his children - Frank and Ernestine. I find it truly amazing that not only did the family boast twelve children but they all learned to speak foreign languages, touch typing, mental maths and even morse code - all because their father worked out dozens of ingenious ways to motivate them - although often it was quite reluctantly on their part. Their father was a truly larger than life character who dominates the book with his booming pronouncements and occassionally humbling mistakes - but you can almost see his eyes twinkling with a ready laugh.

This isn't just a book for adults, kids love having the stories read to them. If nothing else there are wonderful tips about how to get your children to want to learn!

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars What a great book! January 19, 2000

By dina bastianini

Format:Hardcover

CHEAPER BY THE DOZEN

Format: Paperback,1st ed., 180 pages ISBN: 0553272500 Publisher: Bantam Doubleday Dell Books for Younger Readers Pub. Date: February 1981 Other Formats: Hardback Recommended Age:Third grade and up

Wonderful...Once you start to read the first page you wont be able to put the book down. This perfect way to spend a rainy day. You will be very amused when you read about the hilarious events of the Gilbreth family. The family of twelve children have many adventures you will enjoy reading. The father is almost crazy and a very successful business man. He is very strict and overprotective. He won't let his daughters wear make up or dress the way they like to. They slowly change his mind and begin to dress their way. He thinks his children can do anything and is also believed he could do anything. He loved jokes and laughing and you will love the practical jokes they play on each other. The rich family loves to go to movies then out for ice cream. They also spend their summers at the beach, where their Dad forces them to learn to swim. He wants them to learn as much as possible about everything so he always finds a way to teach them new things. As an efficiency expert he made sure that everything was done in a time efficient way. It was a sin to waste time in the Gilbreth house and he was constantly coming up with new ways to save time. The Dad in the story liked to parade around and show off his kids. Although this was embarassing to some of the kids as they got older Dad found it hilarious. The mother also was sometimes embarrassed or insulted by the attention they got or the comments other people made. This book will keep you laughing right up to the last chapter when Dad dies.... The book is a mixture of humor and then sadness at the ending. This is an excellent book that everybody should read. I recommend this book for anyone that knows how to read no matter how old or young!

Dina Bastianini, Pine-Richland High School Read more ›