Cheaper by the Dozen by Frank B. Gilbreth Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey
10 out of 10: Cheaper by the Dozen is one of my all-time favorite books, one I’ve read over and over again. It makes me laugh and cry, sometimes at the same time. It has zero resemblance to the (very lame) Steve Martin movie.
Growing up, my mom read to us nearly every night before we went to bed. My sisters and I would braid each others hair and paint our toenails while she read aloud. It was only rarely that my dad would choose a book and read it to us, but when he did have a book he wanted to read to us, we knew it would be fantastic.
The copy of Cheaper by the Dozen we owned was very old (probably from my Dad’s childhood) and had huge chunks of pages were falling out. The cover was, inexplicably, hot pink.
My dad, as was his habit, had read small sections of the book to us previously, but I’d never read the whole thing and I had no idea what was coming. When the book was finished, I cried for at least an hour.
Cheaper by the Dozen is a true story about a family with twelve children (only eleven lived, but “Cheaper by the Eleven” is a fairly stupid title) in the 1910s and 20s. Both the parents were engineers (alert to all you female engineer readers out there – I know there are at least two of you!) and worked together as “efficiency experts” for a bunch of major companies.
The dad, Frank, loved trying to run his house and his eleven children as efficiently as possible and the book is full of the hilarious stories about him teaching them Morse Code (he’d leave clues written in Morse Code around the house that would lead the kids to a candy bar hidden in a drawer or a toy stashed in a cupboard, or sometimes the note would say “Hello, Live Bait. This one is on the house. When you finish reading this, dash off like mad so the next fellow will think you are on some hot clue. Then he’ll read it, too, and you won’t be the only one who got fooled. Daddy”) or how to multiply large numbers in their heads.
It’s hard to do the Cheaper by the Dozen book justice since it doesn’t really have a single overarching plot line – it’s a series of lovely, hilarious stories about a family that comes into sharper focus the more you read. As an adult, I read this book and see something of what so delighted my dad in its pages, a glimpse of what he wanted our family to be, at least to some degree (lots of learning and family fun, less head thumping with pencils).
Later, my mom told me that my dad asked her to read it before they got married, and five years ago, I made Bart buy a copy and read it before we got engaged.
Everything about this book charms me and it’s made even better by the sequel, called Belles on Their Toes which is, if such a thing is possible, even better than Cheaper by the Dozen.
I have since read it at least three times and writing about it makes me ready to go pull my own (not hot pink) dog-eared copy of the shelf and fall in love with it all over again this weekend.
I don't think I knew there was a sequel! I'll have to find it!
I loved the dad in that book so much! Even as a child, I was all about efficiency.
Love this book. I give it a 10/10.
I am in love with this book, and have been since we read it as a family when I was a child. And I hate it when Hollywood steals book titles and makes movies with zero resemblance!
I also loved this book but have forgotten much of it. I think it's time for a re-read. A similar book (in style but not necessarily family values is Oddballs. A very quick read and one I'd CRACK UP over as a kid.)
I definitely think it's time for a re-read. I think I'll look for it at the library right now 🙂
I love this book so so much. I was excited when I found out about the movie, but figured out pretty soon it didn't have anything to do with the book. I didn't know there was a sequel, I really need to go find it and then make it as dogeared as the first 🙂
I just finished the Mortal Instruments series….LOVED THEM!! I am making everyone I know read them now! I actually just ended up buying the books because the wait was so long at the library, but it definatley was a good buy cause I will totally read them again! Thanks for the suggestion!
This is one of my favorite books in the world. I absolutely LOVE it. My mom also read it to us!
So I was lured to your blog (from Kim's) when I saw your heading…
My Mom's favorite quote book of all time too. Love it. Love it. Didn't know there was a sequel!
Enjoyed your review, thanks!
Have you seen the old Cheaper By the Dozen movie? It's adorable, MUCH better than the new one, and MUCH closer to the book, a nice Friday night date at home kind of movie 🙂
Ok, adding it to my library list and my new Goodreads "janssen made me read it" list.
I decided to check this book out after reading your post…I think my girls will love it if we can ever get off the Little House on the Prairie theme.
I remember your mom telling me to read this years ago – frankly can't remember if I ever did! On my list it goes!!
I've never read this one. Thanks for the great recommendation!
I know this post is WAY old, but I have to ask: Have you seen the "Cheaper By The Dozen" movie with Lucille Ball and Henry Fonda? Actually, I just realized that another poster asked this question, so you probably have by now. Anyway, I love it — and I have no idea whether it's like the book at all. 🙂
That movie is YOURS MINE AND OURS.
Cheaper by the Dozen from 1950 has Myrna Loy and Clifton Webb.
I like both😀
I know this is an old post, do not sure if you check messages anymore. Would you recommend this as a read aloud with kids? What age? Have you read it to your girls? I just started reading it and am wondering if I should stop and restart with the whole family.