Belles on Their Toes

by William Roos, Ernestine Gilbreth Carey, Frank B. Gilbreth Jr.

Life is very different now in the rambling Gilbreth house. When the youngest was two and the oldest eighteen, Dad died and Mother bravely took over his business. Now, to keep the family together, everyone has to pitch in and pinch pennies. The resourceful clan rises to every crisis with a marvelous sense of fun — whether it's battling chicken pox, giving the boot to an unwelcome boyfriend, or even meeting the President. And the few distasteful things they can't overcome — like castor oil — they swallow with good humor and good graces. Belles On Their Toes is a warm, wonderful and entertaining sequel to Cheaper By The Dozen.

Genres: Memoir

81 pages, Paperback

First published September 15, 1952

About the author

Aka Kelley Roos, William Rand.
Father of Stephen Roos

William Roos (1911-1987) and Audrey Kelley Roos (1912-1982) were a married couple who wrote about a a married couple; their series detectives were Jeff and Haila Troy, aided by NY Lieutenant George Hankins. Roos also wrote some non-series mysteries.

William Roos was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and brought up by his German-born grandparents. He attended Allegheny College but transferred to Carnegie Tech in Pittsburgh to study drama. He began writing light, comic plays.

Audrey Kelley was born in Elizabeth, New Jersey, but moved to Pennsylvania in her teens. She met William Roos at Carnegie Tech.

They were married in November 1936 and moved to New York City. The idea to write mysteries came from Audrey after the birth of her daughter Carol. Their first book, Made Up To Kill, was published in 1940 by Dodd, Mead to favorable reviews and went on to a paperback edition.

William continued to write plays. His second play, January Thaw, became a high school staple. He and Audrey collaborated on a mystery play, Speaking of Murder, which ran for a month in New York but did better in London.

The Rooses moved to Connecticut in 1948 and to Martha's Vineyard in the 1960s.

Reviews

[Christy Hall · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read Cheaper By the Dozen and Belles on Their Toes by Frank Gilbreth and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey when I was in middle school. The two memoirs about Frank and Lillian Gilbreth and their 12 children made me laugh and cry. I so wanted to be a part of their loving and crazy family. My parents also introduced me to the (original) movies with Clifton Webb, Myrna Loy and Jeanne Crain, which became instant favorites of mine. The first movie is more faithful to the original source material than the second one is, but they are both fun and heartwarming.

The stage play version of Belles on Their Toes seems to be based on the movie more than the memoir. They change some of the movie’s events to work for a stage play, including condensing the action a great deal. It still has some of the charm and hilarity of the original but I could have used more action and development.

It was a fun, quick read and I could see this as a fun little play to put on. It made me want to read the memoirs and watch the movies again. Perhaps that’s exactly what I’ll go do...

[Meg W · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hilarious, heartwarming, and sentimental movie. The new cheaper by the dozen movies are trash in comparison.