What do you think?
Rate this book
The Boss of Everyone
Imagine if you got to be the boss of EVERYONE—even your dad! That’s just what happens to 10-year-old Joss in this hilarious, brand-new comedy from bestselling author, comedian and presenter Danny Wallace, with illustrations throughout from Gemma Correll. Perfect for children aged 8+ and fans of David Baddiel, Stephen Mangan, David Walliams, Andy Griffiths, Jenny Pearson and Helen Rutter.Ten-year-old Joss’s greatest ambition is to be Class Monitor at school. But she’s about to go one step further. It’s Take Your Kid to Work Day, and Joss’s dad takes her to the games company he works for. When the boss calls a meeting and tells them he’s giving his job away to the person with the best idea for a company game-changer . . . Joss sticks her hand up. And the next thing she knows, Joss is the boss. Joss is thrilled. Dad is he’s going to have to be on his best behaviour all the time! As Joss whips everyone into shape, maybe they can all learn a lesson or two . . . even Joss herself.Warm-hearted and beautifully observed, with hilarious artwork from Gemma Correll, this family-centric comedy has massive wish-fulfilment appeal for kids and adults alike.
- GenresChildrens
240 pages, Paperback
Published March 16, 2023
13 people are currently reading
26 people want to read
About the author
Danny Wallace
61 books639 followersDaniel Frederick Wallace is a British filmmaker, comedian, writer, actor, and presenter of radio and television. His notable works include the books Join Me, Yes Man, and the TV series How to Start Your Own Country. As an author, Wallace's bestselling books have been translated into more than a dozen languages.
He began writing reviews for video game magazines at the age of 13 for school work experience: a reviewer had become ill and so Wallace was given the opportunity to review a game. At 18 he started writing comedy, mainly through the magazine Comedy Review. He specialised in radio production at the University of Westminster.
At 22, he became a BBC producer. He was part of the production team behind British Comedy Award-winning Dead Ringers, the original producer of the critically acclaimed cult hit The Mighty Boosh, and the creator and producer of Ross Noble Goes Global. As a journalist, Wallace has worked for The Scotsman, The Guardian, The Independent, Elle, Cosmo, The Times and other publications.
In 1999, Wallace challenged comedian Dave Gorman, who at the time was his flatmate, to find 54 other people called Dave Gorman ("one for every card in the deck, including the Jokers"). Wallace accompanied Gorman on his quest and the men created Are You Dave Gorman?, an award-winning comedy stage show about what happened during their journey. A BBC series, also co-written and co-produced by Wallace, followed, as did a book, written by both men.
In 2003, Wallace's book Join Me was published. The book explains how he "accidentally started a 'cult'" called Join Me. The movement would go global, with each member committing to undertaking one random act of kindness for a stranger every Friday ("Good Fridays"). Tens of thousands joined. Join Me celebrates "Karmageddon 10" in December 2011. Traditionally, hundreds of members travel to London for the meet-up and undertake good deeds for strangers, with Wallace present. The movement is now generally referred to as the "Karma Army", although members are still typically "Joinees". He became a minor celebrity in Belgium whilst on his quest for Joinees. While on a book tour through America, Wallace was dubbed a "Generation X legend" by the Wisconsin State Journal.
Wallace next wrote a short book called Random Acts of Kindness: 365 Ways To Make the World A Better Place, with the help of submissions from Joinees. It includes many humorous Random Acts of Kindness (RAoK) ideas, such as "Contradict Demeaning Graffiti", and "Make An Old Man Very Happy."
Wallace's second solo book, Yes Man was published in July 2005. In it, he describes how he spent six months "saying Yes where once I would have said No", to make his life more interesting and positive. In this book he shows the tribulations and mischief that he got up to while he said yes to any question or proposal. The book was described as "one of those rare books that actually has the potential to change your life" by the San Francisco Bay Guardian and as "a fascinating book and a fascinating experiment" by David Letterman. A film adaptation of Yes Man was developed with Warner Bros. and stars Jim Carrey and Zooey Deschanel. It was released in 2008 in the US and the UK. Wallace appeared on screen in a cameo in a bar scene in the last ten minutes of the film, holding a British pint glass.
Danny Wallace and the Centre of the Universe was published in 2006. It is linked with World Book Day which in 2006 was on Thursday 2 March. It tells the story of Wallace's trip to Idaho, to visit a manhole cover in a small town, whose residents have proclaimed it the centre of the universe. The cover identifies it as a "Quick Read"; the price and length of the book have been curbed in order to encourage people who may not often read books to purchase it.
Wallace's book, Friends Like These, was released on the 3 July 2008, and tells the story of how he spent a summer trying to track down his old school friends from his days in Dundee,
He began writing reviews for video game magazines at the age of 13 for school work experience: a reviewer had become ill and so Wallace was given the opportunity to review a game. At 18 he started writing comedy, mainly through the magazine Comedy Review. He specialised in radio production at the University of Westminster.
At 22, he became a BBC producer. He was part of the production team behind British Comedy Award-winning Dead Ringers, the original producer of the critically acclaimed cult hit The Mighty Boosh, and the creator and producer of Ross Noble Goes Global. As a journalist, Wallace has worked for The Scotsman, The Guardian, The Independent, Elle, Cosmo, The Times and other publications.
In 1999, Wallace challenged comedian Dave Gorman, who at the time was his flatmate, to find 54 other people called Dave Gorman ("one for every card in the deck, including the Jokers"). Wallace accompanied Gorman on his quest and the men created Are You Dave Gorman?, an award-winning comedy stage show about what happened during their journey. A BBC series, also co-written and co-produced by Wallace, followed, as did a book, written by both men.
In 2003, Wallace's book Join Me was published. The book explains how he "accidentally started a 'cult'" called Join Me. The movement would go global, with each member committing to undertaking one random act of kindness for a stranger every Friday ("Good Fridays"). Tens of thousands joined. Join Me celebrates "Karmageddon 10" in December 2011. Traditionally, hundreds of members travel to London for the meet-up and undertake good deeds for strangers, with Wallace present. The movement is now generally referred to as the "Karma Army", although members are still typically "Joinees". He became a minor celebrity in Belgium whilst on his quest for Joinees. While on a book tour through America, Wallace was dubbed a "Generation X legend" by the Wisconsin State Journal.
Wallace next wrote a short book called Random Acts of Kindness: 365 Ways To Make the World A Better Place, with the help of submissions from Joinees. It includes many humorous Random Acts of Kindness (RAoK) ideas, such as "Contradict Demeaning Graffiti", and "Make An Old Man Very Happy."
Wallace's second solo book, Yes Man was published in July 2005. In it, he describes how he spent six months "saying Yes where once I would have said No", to make his life more interesting and positive. In this book he shows the tribulations and mischief that he got up to while he said yes to any question or proposal. The book was described as "one of those rare books that actually has the potential to change your life" by the San Francisco Bay Guardian and as "a fascinating book and a fascinating experiment" by David Letterman. A film adaptation of Yes Man was developed with Warner Bros. and stars Jim Carrey and Zooey Deschanel. It was released in 2008 in the US and the UK. Wallace appeared on screen in a cameo in a bar scene in the last ten minutes of the film, holding a British pint glass.
Danny Wallace and the Centre of the Universe was published in 2006. It is linked with World Book Day which in 2006 was on Thursday 2 March. It tells the story of Wallace's trip to Idaho, to visit a manhole cover in a small town, whose residents have proclaimed it the centre of the universe. The cover identifies it as a "Quick Read"; the price and length of the book have been curbed in order to encourage people who may not often read books to purchase it.
Wallace's book, Friends Like These, was released on the 3 July 2008, and tells the story of how he spent a summer trying to track down his old school friends from his days in Dundee,
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
March 16, 2023
Superb new what-if about what would happen if a child were in charge.
I think between me and my eldest, we've read all his children's titles (and most of his adult ones). This may be his shortest, but I thought it was brilliant.
Joss is a great creation - the perfect (kind of) student - she answers questions, helps the teacher, tries her hardest.... but she also comments on other students' poor performances, doesn't feel there's a place in school for fun ("a classroom pet is not supposed to be fun - it is merely a way of developing responsibility,"), and hangs out with the headteacher in her office as much as possible. And the Head can't easily stop this... as she is Joss's mum.
But Joss's (clearly exasperated) Head sees a small ray of sun shining through - a Take Your Child to Work Day. Aha - Dad's turn! Joss reluctantly accompanies Bob (aka Dad) to his office at a toy company. And is dismayed to see how grey and demoralised everyone is. When the Big Boss puts Joss in charge for the day, you can imagine that this model of efficiency and discipline will bring her own take on working life to her dad's workplace.
And maybe have some unexpected effects.
Oh I did enjoy this. I loved the sly humour here that adults will pick up on if they are reading along with kids, and that some older readers will also see. But there's also a vulnerable little girl here, with her own worries about secondary school, about a lack of friends, about her inability to relate to others. Younger readers will miss that and love seeing Joss apply school principles and techniques (breaktime! toys!) to an adult context.
This had moments of great sweetness, and Joss becomes more and more likeable as she herself grows as a character in the slight context of this short novel. I loved that both adult and child preoccupations and problems are aired and discussed here, and handled really well for a child reader to be able to comprehend.
I felt for both her parents, but she is sympathetic and this could have very wide appeal in terms of an age range. I'd read this to my nearly 6-year-old but also give it to my 12-year-old to enjoy on different levels.
Nice one, Wallace.
With thanks to Netgalley for providing a sample reading copy.
I think between me and my eldest, we've read all his children's titles (and most of his adult ones). This may be his shortest, but I thought it was brilliant.
Joss is a great creation - the perfect (kind of) student - she answers questions, helps the teacher, tries her hardest.... but she also comments on other students' poor performances, doesn't feel there's a place in school for fun ("a classroom pet is not supposed to be fun - it is merely a way of developing responsibility,"), and hangs out with the headteacher in her office as much as possible. And the Head can't easily stop this... as she is Joss's mum.
But Joss's (clearly exasperated) Head sees a small ray of sun shining through - a Take Your Child to Work Day. Aha - Dad's turn! Joss reluctantly accompanies Bob (aka Dad) to his office at a toy company. And is dismayed to see how grey and demoralised everyone is. When the Big Boss puts Joss in charge for the day, you can imagine that this model of efficiency and discipline will bring her own take on working life to her dad's workplace.
And maybe have some unexpected effects.
Oh I did enjoy this. I loved the sly humour here that adults will pick up on if they are reading along with kids, and that some older readers will also see. But there's also a vulnerable little girl here, with her own worries about secondary school, about a lack of friends, about her inability to relate to others. Younger readers will miss that and love seeing Joss apply school principles and techniques (breaktime! toys!) to an adult context.
This had moments of great sweetness, and Joss becomes more and more likeable as she herself grows as a character in the slight context of this short novel. I loved that both adult and child preoccupations and problems are aired and discussed here, and handled really well for a child reader to be able to comprehend.
I felt for both her parents, but she is sympathetic and this could have very wide appeal in terms of an age range. I'd read this to my nearly 6-year-old but also give it to my 12-year-old to enjoy on different levels.
Nice one, Wallace.
With thanks to Netgalley for providing a sample reading copy.
May 28, 2023
Joss is a kind of girl who seems to have hothoused herself, to the extent she is confident in her abilities to win every academic and voluntary award at school, and to correct her teachers in their ways – even her headteacher, who is also her mother. So mother is damned glad there's a "Take Your Children to Work" day, which means Joss can be offloaded on the dad, who works for a toy company. Lo and behold, things conspire to leave her running the firm for a whole week. The end results are as arch and comedic as you'd wish for.
What we have is a rollicking drama about whether Joss will succeed or not, and how, and a complete inversion of the world as the target reader will know it. For Joss will go to the humdrum office with ideas of uniforms, break times, weekly awards such as she gets at school – and of course the chance to use adult language, like "you've let me down, you've let the team down, but most of all you've let yourself down". It's a book that doesn't try too hard to show the inversion of all this, or the idiocy of either worklife or school days, but riffs successfully on this matter for a couple of hundred speedily read pages, and makes for a satisfying comedy. Four stars plus.
What we have is a rollicking drama about whether Joss will succeed or not, and how, and a complete inversion of the world as the target reader will know it. For Joss will go to the humdrum office with ideas of uniforms, break times, weekly awards such as she gets at school – and of course the chance to use adult language, like "you've let me down, you've let the team down, but most of all you've let yourself down". It's a book that doesn't try too hard to show the inversion of all this, or the idiocy of either worklife or school days, but riffs successfully on this matter for a couple of hundred speedily read pages, and makes for a satisfying comedy. Four stars plus.
November 7, 2023
We have previously read and enjoyed The Day The Screens Went Blank by the same author and the boys have read the Hamish series by him as well.
This book was once again, full of fun and me and Riley enjoyed the read, laughing lots. Joss appears confident and a bit of a know it all – but underneath we learn she is actually quite nervous about her imminent move to high school and the changes that will bring, as well as her not being able to let loose and enjoy being a kid!
The opportunity to run a company for a week is one I think most kids would jump at, and while nervous at first, Joss’s ideas are entertaining and GOOD – reminding everyone that a bit of fun is needed by us all.
We loved it and would definitely recommend – plenty of laughs and some sweet little life lessons in there as well, both for the kids and adults reading!
This book was once again, full of fun and me and Riley enjoyed the read, laughing lots. Joss appears confident and a bit of a know it all – but underneath we learn she is actually quite nervous about her imminent move to high school and the changes that will bring, as well as her not being able to let loose and enjoy being a kid!
The opportunity to run a company for a week is one I think most kids would jump at, and while nervous at first, Joss’s ideas are entertaining and GOOD – reminding everyone that a bit of fun is needed by us all.
We loved it and would definitely recommend – plenty of laughs and some sweet little life lessons in there as well, both for the kids and adults reading!
February 2, 2025
Danny Wallace's books just get better and better ... I am ever hopeful that others of you will take note of this, and knock bloody David Walliams off his pedestal!
This one was about 10 year old Joss, who is so annoying and yet so endearing at the same time. There are plenty of laugh out loud moments, a great moral, rotten adults that need dealing with, and all in all, it's an easy 5 stars from me.
This one was about 10 year old Joss, who is so annoying and yet so endearing at the same time. There are plenty of laugh out loud moments, a great moral, rotten adults that need dealing with, and all in all, it's an easy 5 stars from me.
February 24, 2023
This made me chuckle a canny few times! Joss ends up being the boss of the place her dad works and what happens isn’t what you expect to happen when a 10 year old takes over! This is funny, charming and gorgeously illustrated by Gemma Correll. I honestly think there’s a lot of me in Joss - both as a ten year old and a teacher, ha.
February 12, 2023
I'm a big Danny Wallace fan and love his Hamish books. Gosh, this was a fun read. I can see lots of educators recognising characters and I laughed out loud several times. Definitely a read for KS2 children. I'll be getting a copy for our library.
February 22, 2024
this book is about how a girl went from being in school to be the boss of everything at her dad's work, and she was still ten
She was a false, informer, and she became the best boss Griffin Grifin Games ever had
She was a false, informer, and she became the best boss Griffin Grifin Games ever had
March 26, 2023
This book is so good and I think everyone should read it
Read
April 18, 2023So good
May 10, 2023
What would happen if a child got to run an office? Such a good premise and a story we both enjoyed, although I think I enjoyed it more than my daughter.
June 18, 2023
4.25 stars. What a lovely, heartwarming and very very funny story!
September 7, 2023
Another great children's story from Danny with great messages especially being nice, being kind and looking out for one and another
July 19, 2024
Book 2 of my summer reading challenge
July 17, 2025
Everyone should read it and especially the corporate grown ups, thinking from the perspective of a kid really brings change in a good way
Read
September 13, 2025Read it for school but it still counts!
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews