A Book for Every Barbie
She’s a teen fashion icon. A ballerina. An astronaut. The United Nations Peace Ambassador. Fun, fabulous, and fiercely loyal to her friends — Barbie is everything.
Throughout her existence, Barbie has invited celebration and controversy. Many applaud her for inspiring generations of girls to be ambitious and pursue their dreams while others criticise her for perpetuating unrealistic beauty standards and reinforcing gender stereotypes.
However, today, the doll has evolved to include an expansive range of Barbies that represent a multitude of ethnicities, body types and careers. From supermodel, fashion designer and actress to environmentalist, software engineer and even president, there’s a Barbie for everyone!
Let’s take a look into the bookshelves of Barbieland and imagine what some of these Barbies might have at the top of their to-read list.
Barbie
They’re blonde, beautiful, have a passion for pink, and live in a dream house in Malibu, but there’s more that Barbie and Elle Woods have in common.
Before it became a beloved Broadway musical and a hit movie starring Reese Witherspoon, Legally Blonde was an uproariously funny, romantic comedy novel. In the novel, Elle Woods is a University of Southern California fashion major and sorority president who enrolls herself in Stanford Law School to win her college sweetheart back.
Hilarity ensues in this fish-out-of-water story where Elle finds herself in the middle of a celebrity’s murder trial. In the end, she discovers that a girl can be both bold and brilliant while also being true to herself.
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President Barbie
She’s made it. This Barbie is now president and the leader of the free world. For her down time, she’ll be reading about a woman who paved the way toward the pinnacle of politics for her: the Notorious RBG.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg was a Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, serving from 1993 until her death in 2020. She championed many of the rights that we take for granted today, establishing the constitutional right to abortion, legalising same-sex marriage, challenging gender-based discrimination and working tirelessly to reform the criminal justice system.
This biography is an extensive hybrid of narratives, archival photos and annotated documents, detailing an extraordinary woman’s life through her work along with interviews with those who knew her.
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Mermaid Barbie
With so many scams floating around today, who’s going to fall for one next?! Certainly not Mermaid Barbie, who stays savvy and well-informed, especially after reading Bunk: The Rise of Hoaxes, Humbug, Plagiarists, Phonies, Post-Facts and Fake News.
Poet and literary critic Kevin Young traces the prevalence of hoaxes in modern society, beginning with P.T Barnum and his infamous Fiji Mermaid before reaching contemporary controversies, such as when a white woman Rachel Dolezal presented herself as African-American.
Despite liberal access to the internet and its glut of information, we remain as gullible as ever, unable to weed out the modern Fiji Mermaids and constantly falling for snake-oil salesmen in suits. With this read, find out what makes us believe the unbelievable.
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Nobel Physics Prize Winner Barbie
Every scientist has big dreams of making the next big discovery — but with great power comes great responsibility. There is always a chance that world-changing inventions might make the world a worse place — which is why Nobel Physics Prize Winner Barbie is especially attuned to the dual-edged nature of scientific exploration.
On her summer reading list is the world’s first science-fiction novel — Frankenstein. Written by then 18-year-old Mary Shelley, this literary classic discusses ambition, curiosity, and a passion for scientific discovery while also warning about the dangers of taking science too far.
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Splits Barbie
She’s a mover, she’s a shaker, and she’s not afraid to groove to the beat of her own rhythm. And, she is not the only one.
Splits Barbie would definitely love to read HerStory: 50 Women And Girls Who Shook Up The World, which features extraordinary women who marched to the beat of their own drums.
From ancient Egyptian Queen Hatshepsut to the first woman in space, Russian Valentina Tereshkova, Halligan’s richly-illustrated book covers the lives of women around the globe and across the centuries.
Halligan’s cast of characters includes politicians and activists alongside scientists, singers and spies, featuring the most famous names and surfacing lesser-known individuals.
This colourful compendium is for anyone seeking the courage to make waves in this wide, wonderful world.
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Bonus: Ken
If anyone knows how to be a supportive second fiddle to a wonder woman, it's Ken.
In Diary of a Hapless Househusband, Sam Holden finds out how much it really takes to run a smooth home. After losing his job, the father-of-two switches roles with his wife to become a stay-at-home Dad while she returns to the workforce.
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Text by
Terisha Tan
National Library Board
