If you're doing your best Barbie-on-the-ground impression in the run-up to Oscars night—say nothing of the doll's anniversary in March—we've got six book recommendations to fill the void.

Ruth Handler, who co-founded Mattel with her husband, Elliot Handler, and Harold Matson in 1945, noticed her daughter, Barbara, playing with paper dolls ... Ruth named the doll Barbie, after ...