Cheaper by the Dozen

 This delightful old-school tale is the loosely autobiographical story of a family with twelve children, two of whom are the authors.  It was suggested by a friend who heard that JEHOE are moving to Montclair, New Jersey, also the home, in the 1900's and 10's of the large, talented and amusing Gilbreth Family!

Both the father, Frank Bunker Gilbreth, and mother, Lillian Moller Gilbreth, were internationally known time-and-motion efficiency experts, and they ran their home (with remarkable efficiency and good humor) as a kind of collaborative experiment:

"One reason he had so many children - there were twelve of us - was that he was convinced anything he and mother teamed up on was sure to be a success".

This book, which depicts American life at the turn of the century and is very funny, was very popular: two Cheaper by the Dozen movies were made, one with Clifton Webb and Myrna Loy, and a much later version with Steve Martin and Bonnie Hunt.  

I quite enjoyed this breezy, optimistic and amusing story.