Rec­om­mend­ed Reading

Let’s Go Barbie!

JBC Staff
July 24, 2023

Pho­to­graph of Ruth Han­dler orig­i­nal­ly pub­lished by the Los Ange­les Times, 1961

Design by Simona Zaretsky

Near­ly six­ty-four years ago, Ruth Han­dler cre­at­ed the icon­ic Bar­bie doll. An Amer­i­can Jew­ish busi­ness­woman and inven­tor, Han­dler’s phi­los­o­phy ​“that through the doll, a lit­tle girl could be any­thing she want­ed to be” remains a pow­er­ful tool for chil­dren through the decades.

In hon­or of the Bar­bie movie, we’re shar­ing some read­ing rec­om­men­da­tions for you based on Barbies. 

(And yes, these are all real Bar­bie dolls. Check them out here.)

Bar­bie Fashionista

Isaac Mizrahi by Chee Pearl­man and Ulrich Lehmann

Bar­bie Ballerina

Three Mus­es by Martha Anne Toll

Bar­bie Scientist

Hedy Lamarr: An Incred­i­ble Life by William Roy and illus­trat­ed by Syl­vain Dorange

Bar­bie Pop Star

I Want to Be Where the Nor­mal Peo­ple Are by Rachel Bloom

Bar­bie Chick­en Farmer

Speak­ing Yid­dish to Chick­ens: Holo­caust Sur­vivors on South Jer­sey Poul­try Farms by Seth Stern

Bar­bie Lifeguard

The Jews of Sum­mer: Sum­mer Camp and Jew­ish Cul­ture in Post­war Amer­i­ca by San­dra Fox

Bar­bie Cook­ing & Bak­ing Chef

Now for Some­thing Sweet by Mon­day Morn­ing Cook­ing Club

Bar­bie Superstar

Bar­bra Streisand: Redefin­ing Beau­ty, Fem­i­nin­i­ty, and Pow­er by Neal Gabler

Bar­bie Malibu

Siz­zle Reel by Car­lyn Greenwald

Bar­bie Rewind 80s Edi­tion Workin’ Out Doll

Let’s Get Phys­i­cal: How Women Dis­cov­ered Exer­cise and Reshaped the World by Danielle Friedman 

Bar­bie Fash­ion­ista with Wheelchair

Because the World Is Round by Jane Saginaw

Dis­ney Princess Rapun­zel Fash­ion Doll

Hap­pi­ly: A Per­son­al His­­to­ry-with Fairy Tales by Sab­ri­na Orah Mark

Bar­bie Doctor

The Unseen Body: A Doc­tor’s Jour­ney Through the Hid­den Won­ders of Human Anato­my by Jonathan Reisman

Bar­bie Vet

The Oth­er Fam­i­ly Doc­tor by Karen Fine

Bar­bie Dentist

The Muse­um of Lost Teeth by Elyssa Friedland

iden­ti­ty
friend­ship
Related Reading