Cheaper by the Dozen (book)

[cintinative]

My DS aged 10 almost 11 is reading it and says it is boring--I think he *might* be missing the humor somehow?  Is that possible? I've never read it but all the reviews say it is really funny. Does it start slow?

[abcmommy]

Kids this age may miss the humor I think...  Maybe read a bit aloud with him and see what you think.  I loved these books as a kid.  More so bc my grandma's mom lived next door to Frank Sr when he was a child.  

[Insertcreativenamehere]

We just listened to it on audiobook and really enjoyed it. I will say that I probably got the most out of it, but my 11 yo son enjoyed it, too. I think the audiobook is more interesting than reading the book to yourself; the narrator was really good!

[Lori D.]

It's okay to not like every book, even if it gets rave reviews by lots of other people. Plenty of other great books out there to try. :)

 

At 10yo, books that my boys found to be humorous were things like the Time Warp Trio series, Henry Huggins series, some of Sid Fleischman's books, off-beat things like The Bad Idea Catalog, but esp. Calvin & Hobbes comic collections… ;)

 

I see Cheaper by the Dozen as a book written by an adult for other adults, remembering back on the humorous events of his growing up in the 1920s with an eccentric father and 11 siblings. I don't know as though that's going to have a huge connection or appeal 90 years later to a 10yo -- unless shared all together as a family read-aloud to be able to provide context as you go. As a solo read, I think it might be a better fit for the 14-or-older readers, and esp. those who enjoy real-life misadventure memoirs.

 

Side note: There is one episode at the very end of the book that left me with an icky feeling -- the oldest sisters of the family are around 20, and a late teens/20-something boy who wanted to ask them out gets caught by the younger teen brothers of the family up in a tree peeping into the sisters' window to watch them undress… jibbly-jibbly icky squicky… Even though the younger teen brothers are great at protecting their sisters by threatening the peeping tom and running him off, the whole episode was just not the same light feel and tone as the other escapades of the book.

 

 

Edited June 14, 2016 by Lori D.

[HomeAgain]

Oh, read the book with him!  You will appreciate it, I'm sure!

 

If it isn't up his alley, try The Great Brain afterwards.

[73349]

I read it aloud to DS, skipping a few things, and got rid of it rather than keeping it for him to read to himself later--I believe because there was a part, toward the end if I recall correctly, that I considered just alarmingly racist.

 

I'd give it a scan before handing it over to a pre-teen.

Edited June 14, 2016 by whitehawk

[cintinative]

wow, good to know! I will take it off his list and read it aloud instead! Thanks so much!!

[ScoutTN]

Dd didn't like it, so I didn't have her finish it.  I'm glad, now that I hear some of these comments.

[Lilaclady]

We enjoyed the book. I read it first and then gave it to my then 10 year old and it is one of her favorites. I also second giving your son the great brain books.

[monalisa]

Agreeing that this is better read aloud.  I am reading this aloud right now to my dd13.  It is funny, though not the funniest book we've ever read.  I know she would think it was boring to read on her own.  Also, there are a number of places where God's name is taken in vain, and some other things I didn't find appropriate for our family that I completely skipped while reading aloud.

[PeachyDoodle]

My dd11 just finished it and loved it. But not everyone loves every book, and there's nothing wrong with that! I know my own kids have loved some things I thought they would hate, and vice versa. If it's not a hit, chuck it and move on. There are too many wonderful books out there to waste time on something you hate!

[cintinative]

I pulled it and gave him a different book. I might read it aloud but not sure yet. I did a brief scan and I saw some of the things you all mentioned. I am not sure it is worth the workarounds.  I am so grateful for all your input! And my son is over the moon that he doesn't have to finish it!  LOL!

 

ETA: He has read The Great Brain.  =)

Edited June 16, 2016 by cintinative

[Shifra]

I think that Lori has a point in that Cheaper By the Dozen was written for adults. A young boy probably would not get the humor.

 

I first read the book at age 12 and loved it; however, I am also the oldest of 11 children. While many of the stories in Cheaper By the Dozen were specific to that particular family, many of the incidents were repeated in my family, too. For instance, when my youngest sister was born, we went to the hospital to visit my mother. That alone was significant because before that time, siblings were not allowed to visit hospitals (little kids could spread germs!). When all nine of us and my Dad got to the hospital, the security guard almost had a heart attack! "Nine kids! This lady had nine kids and just had her tenth! Are any of them adopted? Are you Catholic? How many kids do you have anyway?"

 

My dad, who has a great sense of humor, with a very straight face turned to me and asked, "I don't know. How many kids do we have?" To which I replied, "I think the last count was nine."

 

By that point, the nurse heard the whole commotion and came running, and confirmed that yes, my mother indeed had ten children. Some of my siblings were embarrassed, but my father and I thought it was hysterical.

[J-rap]

Weird -- I thought I answered this already, earlier, but now I can't find it.  Hmmm...  My girls loved Cheaper by the Dozen, though they were older -- probably middle school or early high school.  Also, we had already seen the movie.  Maybe that helped?  I think the dad reminded them a little of their own dad.  :)

 

[Julie Smith]

My boys enjoyed it when I read it out loud to them at ages 6 and 7ish. When I was finished reading it I offered some other book. Eldest said, "We can start that other book, but when we get the sequel to Cheaper by the Dozen stop reading it because I really, really want the sequel to Cheaper by the dozen right now!"  The library of course did not have the book so I had to buy it. Mind you when I did get it, the sequel "Belles on their Toes" feel flat and we didn't make it half way. The majority of the stories changed to growing up, dating, ...

 

Two things to note:

- At that time my boys pretty much only liked and listened to books written a hundred years ago.

- We read it out loud, I wouldn't assign it as an independent read. 

 

ETA:

This thread reminded me of an old thread. :) Where I asked for read aloud recommendations. I reread some of the posts and had fond memories of those books we read 5+ years ago.

http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/268745-any-nice-fluffy-read-alludes-for-my-boys/

 

 

Edited June 23, 2016 by Julie Smith

[HomeAgain]

I pulled it and gave him a different book. I might read it aloud but not sure yet. I did a brief scan and I saw some of the things you all mentioned. I am not sure it is worth the workarounds.  I am so grateful for all your input! And my son is over the moon that he doesn't have to finish it!  LOL!

 

ETA: He has read The Great Brain.  =)

 

From a historical standpoint, it is.  This is one of the few (auto)biographies showing life in a big family at the turn of the century.  To say their story isn't worth reading.....?

 

[Upennmama]

It's a great book but probably needs explanations, as a lot of the references are older and might be confusing to kids.

[Shelly in the Country]

I tried this one as a read-aloud for my 4 kids (age range of 8-16yo).  They hated it and made me pick another book.  This is the only book they have ever protested so adamantly.  They practically staged an intervention to get me to stop.

[hellen]

My kids loved it, even the 5 year old. We did the audiobook version on Audible. The narrator did a great job.