Cheaper by the Dozen

I first encountered Cheaper by the Dozen in third grade.  After I quickly exhausted all of the titles in our classroom library, my teacher kindly lent me some books from her personal collection.  And I like this one so much that I...never gave it back.  I'm sorry, Miss Maher--it's been well-loved.

Cheaper by the Dozen tells the real-life story of a family of twelve children growing up in New Jersey in the first two decades of the twentieth century.  (It is told in the third person, but jointly penned by two of the children, Frank and Ernestine.)  The father, Frank Gilbreth, was a larger-than-life figure, literally and figuratively.  From humble beginnings, and with only a high school education, he worked his way up to essentially create the modern science of management efficiency--what in the book is referred to as "motion study."  Essentially, he would consult with large-scale factory operations and find ways to increase output by reducing the number of "motions" each worker had to perform in order to complete a task.  Never to do things by halves, he then applied his discoveries to the management of his very large and boisterous family.

When I encountered my first large family (11 children), I remember being fascinated by the logistics.  How did you all eat dinner?  Where did everyone sleep?  How did you get anywhere?  (I didn't know about 12-passenger vans in those days.)  This book answers all those questions and more.  Any parent of many knows the importance of organization, but the Gilbreths took it to the next level.  All children had lengthy lists of chores which had to be checked off daily, a buddy system ensured younger children were always cared for and accounted for, and speed drills ensured that the house could be evacuated in 14 seconds flat.  Some of their speed drills call to mind the opening of The Sound of Music, with the children marching in formation at the sound of a whistle.  However, where in that movie the regimentation is meant to be a sign of rigidity masking grief, the Gilbreths are always irrepressibly joyful and genuinely happy.

Returning to Cheaper by the Dozen as an adult, I vaguely wondered whether they were Catholic.  The answer is no--they were lapsed Presbyterians.  Though having a dozen children was more common in 1920, it was already rare in the upper-middle-class WASP circles the Gilbreths moved in.  An amusing episode occurs when a Planned Parenthood representative accidentally comes to the door.  They simply have a lot of kids because that's what happens sometimes.  And because it's a lot of fun.

Though it was Frank who had the big personality, it is the mother, Lillian, who emerges as the unsung hero of the story.  Moms of many in 2019 can be reminded to be grateful that they don't have to worry about managing 12 simultaneous cases of whooping cough, or how to bring all the children across the country to visit their grandparents in California without airplanes or interstate highways (answer: a four-day train ride still unequalled in its epic misery).  A remarkably intelligent woman, she was a full partner in the family business, and took over both the business and all parenting duties after her husband's untimely death.  She is truly an inspiring figure.

Note: sadly, many people now associate the title "Cheaper by the Dozen" with the Steve Martin movie, which bears absolutely no relation to the book.   For those who love this book and wish to know more about the Gilbreths, there is also a sequel, Belles on their Toes, which I also highly recommend.

Ages: 9 and up, great for family read-aloud at any age

Rating: A