Autocratic Management: The Boss Baby by Marla Frazee

FROM THE MOMENT THAT THE BABY ARRIVED...

IT WAS OBVIOUS THAT HE WAS THE BOSS.

When this baby shows up, dressed in a natty black drop-seat onesie with spiffy white shirt and tie, toting a formidable briefcase, these parents know that their CEO has taken charge of management. He sets up his office, his "desk" the circular tray of his walker, and demands 24/7 hustle from the "staff," his increasingly pooped parents.

HE CONDUCTED MEETINGS.

LOTS AND LOTS OF MEETINGS.

MANY IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT.

This boss demands his executive perquisites--drinks to order summoned around the clock, his own spa for relaxation, his private jet, and a personal gym for his workouts. In true administrative style, his interoffice communications are virtually unintelligible. The Boss is happy, but worker morale is definitely at a statistical low.

THEN, ONE DAY ALL ACTIVITY GROUND TO A HALT. THE BOSS SURVEYED HIS SURROUNDINGS, EYEBALLED HIS WORKERS, AND FROWNED.

HE CALLED A MEETING. THE STAFF DID NOT RESPOND.

It looks like employee insubordination. The parental workers are apparently on a sit-down strike. In fact, they're slumped in an exhausted slumber on the couch.

When all else fails, The Boss comes to an executive decision. The usual communication media are obviously ineffective. He tries a new, more employee-sensitive management style:

MA-MA? DA-DA?

Weary new parents and even older brothers and sisters will instantly recognize the imperious management style adopted by all newborns in Caldecott Award-winning author/illustrator Marla Frazee's just published The Boss Baby (Beach Lane Books, 2010). The perfect book for new parents or parent-to-be, anyone who's ever spent time around a new baby will recognize this scenario, and Frazee's retro-stylized comic illustrations of the boss baby, his "desk" adorned with his intercom (baby monitor) and beverages (bottles), his spa a bubbly baby bathtub, and his executive jet an airplane-shaped baby swing seat are a real hoot. Lots of laughs here for all the family.