I bought this bag for my son when he started 1st grade. He is now a junior in college and STILL uses this bag! He outgrew it for school work around 6th grade, but uses it still when traveling. Some where along the line a zipper was replaced. But overall a great value and great product!
All 3 of my kids started with the Junior backpack and my 1st grader still carries it every day. The 2 older kids carried it through 3rd grade and never had any issues fitting their folders in it. Now they have the larger size. I bought my oldest daughter one her 1st year of preschool and she still uses it whenever we travel. After 6 years of school-day carrying and 4 additional years of travel/sleepover use, it still looks new. No fraying at all. I have never purchased any other backpacks and chuckle at the people who complain about having to buy a new pack for their kids every year or even mid-year because one wears out. I have yet to have one of the 5 I have purchased total wear out. Five backpacks throughout 20 years of schooling so far total is pretty good. The only reason I even had to replace the Junior was because it was outgrown.
My son used this backpack from age 2, but with the straps loosened I can carry it comfortably, which is important when you're dealing with toddlers! We still use it as an overnight bag.
It doesn't hold enough for preschooler or kindergartener who is responsible for all of their belongings, (or more precisely, for PACKING all of their belongings neatly!) but if you're helping with snowpants or things like that it's fine. It does hold quite a bit. There are some children in my son's kindergarten class who still use this size, but I think they carry their lunch boxes separately. You can fit a lunch, snowpants, sneakers and a folder, but it would require an adult to pack it.
This bag is very durable and we love the reflector feature. The changes that I would love to see to the original series (junior and deluxe included) is a stearnum strap and an external, clipping carry strap for jackets, lunchboxes, etc. I know others would like a water bottle holder as well. I love the construction and colors of L.L. Bean packs, especially the smooth fabric under the cushy shoulder straps, but those design features would really improve the comfort and functionality of the backpacks. You could probably even sell them separately to clip on to the standard pack. We would buy them!!
