In the early 1950s, Ruth Handler was watching her daughter, Barbara, and her friends play with paper dolls. The dolls resembled women. Handler saw how the girls imagined themselves as the dolls. But paper dolls were flimsy and delicate. Handler thought the kidsā imaginations could take off even more if they had durable dolls. This led her to create Barbie dolls. These days about two Barbies are sold every second. Barbie has her own movies and TV series. The 2023 blockbuster Barbie dominated the box office. Learn more about Barbie and her impact.
Liz Sonneborn has written more than fifty books for children and adults, including several titles for the North American Indian Nations series. She lives in Brooklyn, New York.