Frank B. Gilbreth

About the Author

Frank B. Gilbreth, co-author of the beloved classic Cheaper by the Dozen, was an American author and efficiency expert born in 1911, the son of renowned industrial engineers Frank Bunker Gilbreth Sr. and Lillian Moller Gilbreth. Growing up in a bustling household of twelve siblings, Gilbreth drew from his extraordinary family experiences to craft humorous and heartfelt narratives about life under his father's innovative time-management experiments and his mother's psychological insights. His writing captures the chaos and joy of large-family dynamics with wit and warmth, offering timeless reflections on parenting, productivity, and the American dream. Though his literary output was modest, Gilbreth's collaboration with his sister Ernestine on Cheaper by the Dozen and its sequel Belles on Their Toes cemented his legacy as a chronicler of mid-20th-century family life, blending memoir with lighthearted storytelling that continues to enchant readers generations later.