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I CAN BE AN ACTRESS/ Hardcover – July 23, 2013

by Susan Marenco (Author),‎ Random House (Illustrator)

59 customer reviews

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The publisher has discontinued this book. Barbie can be an actress and a computer engineer! Barbie plays a pretty princess in a play—then saves her sister's school computer project. With two great all-new stories and over 50 stickers, girls 3–7 will love this I Can Be deluxe storybook!

I CAN BE AN ACTRESS/

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Product details

Age Range: 3 - 7 years
Grade Level: Preschool - 2
Hardcover: 32 pages
Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers; Nov edition (July 23, 2013)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0449816192
ISBN-13: 978-0449816196
Product Dimensions: 8 x 0.2 x 8 inches
Shipping Weight: 4 ounces
Average Customer Review: 59 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,393,860 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1302 in Books > Children's Books > Computers & Technology
- #3157 in Books > Children's Books > Arts, Music & Photography > Performing Arts
- #16295 in Books > Children's Books > Science, Nature & How It Works

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Mark

DO NOT BUY THIS BOOK.

November 18, 2014

Format: Hardcover

As a computer engineer and the father of two daughters who are both in STEM fields, my only recommendation for this book would be to set it on fire.

0Comment 410 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?

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Rachel Appel

Sends unhealthy messages to young girls (or boys)

January 31, 2014

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

Barbie starts out at breakfast stating that she's designing a game but when questioned by her sister Skipper, she admits, "I'm only creating the design idea, I'll need Steven and Brian's help to turn it into a real game". Literally six sentences into the story, and already Barbie can NOT do it. She immediately admits she doesn't know how to actually do computer engineering, and like a Disney princess, needs a white knight to rescue her. The attitude Barbie portrays in the between the illustrations and story line makes it clear that Barbie needs a boy's help and can NOT do this on her own. This is in stark opposition of Mattel's branding and positioning of the "I can be" line of toys.

It then gets worse. Barbie tries to email her design ideas to Steven when all the sudden things go downhill. She, the computer engineer, reboots the computer but needs the help of her sister to do so. Skipper then has to point out to Barbie, the expert, that she has a virus. While that's not enough, Barbie convinces Skipper to let her use her computer and then Barbie, the computer engineer, promptly infects Skipper's machine with a virus, which causes Skipper to lose her homework and files. Barbie then basically shrugs off this slight and skips off to school, where she finds herself in computer class asking about what to do about viruses.
The teacher then gives out technically inaccurate advice (but I digress) and the scene moves onto after school where Barbie is meeting the boys. It is Steven, not Barbie the computer engineer who actually "can do" computer engineering. Their exchange:

"I've got Skipper's assignment from the hard drive!" exclaims Steven.
"Fantastic!" says Barbie. "And her other files, as well?"
"I've got everything", says Steven. "Now let's retrieve the files from your hard drive. Both laptops will be good as new in no time!"

The next scene is the next morning where Barbie presents her sister with her lost files. Barbie takes 100% of the credit for fixing something to which she contributed nothing. Barbie also accepts extra credit for work she did not do. The story cites - of all things - her exceptional computer skills as the reason.

This is in stark contrast to the Actress Barbie in the first story in the book. In that story, Barbie is a grown woman, a competent and well-known professional, who actually does save the day by helping some younger folks in the theater.

I work as a software engineer, which is a male dominated field. It is exactly these stereotypes and portrayals of girls like the one in this book that are the driving force behind the lack of girls wanting to enter these lucrative technology fields. This book is part of the problem. I hope Random House replaces this book with something more appropriate for children.

0Comment 610 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?

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Jaylin

Great for lighting fires during power outages

January 31, 2014

Format: Hardcover

I found the sexist drivel that this book portays to be especially inflammatory, so much so that I've placed it near my fireplace for emergency use during a power outage. The demeaning words add extra fuel as they certainly come from the fire of hell itself.
Also wonderful for starting your backyard grill.

0Comment 338 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?

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Irresponsible.

November 17, 2014

Format: Hardcover

This is possibly the most irresponsible children's book ever published. The title should really be a question: "Can I be a computer engineer?" and the answer, according to this book, is no! silly Barbie, take all that hard programming stuff to the boys! it will be faster if they just do it for you. aarrrrgghhhh.

once again, women programmers are shafted by the toy industry who insists computers are toys for boys (http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2014/10/21/357629765/when-women-stopped-coding). This has already put generations of women in challenging situations when they enter university computer science programs. This book could do something to change that. but, no.

Please, please do not buy this book.

0Comment 185 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?

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J. de Verney

Why Do People Who Make Toys for Girls Seem to Hate Them?

November 17, 2014

Format: Hardcover

The story in "I Can Be an Actress" is fatuous, but it cannot compete with the contempt for girls that permeates the "I Can Be a Computer Engineer" story. To add insult to misogynist injury, the depiction of "computer engineer" has nothing to do with either engineering or computer science. As far as I can tell, this story seems to think "computer engineer" means being utterly ignorant of how computers work, and not actually using them to write software.

Do your daughter a favor, and just download the past year of @SwiftOnSecurity's tweets, instead. She'll learn far more about computer security, engineering, and girl power from a real fake girl than from this waste of tree carcasses.

0Comment 206 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?

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I Can'T Be a Computer Engineer Because I'm Just a Girl.

February 13, 2014

Format: Hardcover

An appalling representation of how women act in the world of technology.
Lessons you learn from "I Can Be a Computer Engineer":

A girl needs a boy to do anything of value.
Women are not able to fix their own computer problems.
Girls need boys to do their work for them but can simply take the credit and no one will worry about who really did the work since, duh! a girl couldn’t have done it by herself.

Basically this book enforces all the bad stereotypes about women/girls not being capable enough to compete with men/boys when it comes to careers in technology. Fantastic.

Women in geek culture are already treated as second class citizens, this book had a chance to do something good and failed - MISERABLY.

0Comment 241 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?

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Burl Owens

Wow!

February 11, 2014

Format: Hardcover

I just read this book, and it's incomprehensible how misogynistic it is. I wouldn't be surprised if it got removed from the shelves soon.

0Comment 169 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?

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Ellie

This nonsense is ridiculously offensive and sends a horrible message for young girls

November 17, 2014

Format: Hardcover

"I Can Be a Computer Engineer": If I could give it a zero, I would. This nonsense is ridiculously offensive and sends a horrible message for young girls. "Yeah, you can be an engineer, assuming you have male friends to help you!" If it's not already being pulled from shelves, it should be.

0Comment 140 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?

Yes