I LOVE this bag! I received it my freshman year of high school. Used it all through high school, & college. It has been on airplanes, Greyhound bus, to camp, on my honeymoon, hospital bag for my 4 babies, and now my daughters use it for an overnight bag, I am too selfish and sentimental to let my oldest daughter to use it for school though, so off we go to LLBean to buy a new one.
EXCEPT: There is no water bottle pocket. When I was in high school, that was not really a big deal. I am 30 now so that was about 15 years ago. But my kids carry their water bottles everywhere. All the kids at school bring their water bottles to school. So naturally, my 4 year old daughter does too.
My newly 3rd grade son has a Critter backpack. We love that one! I was sad to see that it was discontinued. I am now looking at the Discovery backpack for my daughter. That one has a mesh pocket on the outside and she really likes the butterfly on the outside. We will get the lunch box to match.
All in all, I still love this bag. BUT I would love to see it updated with a water bottle pocket.
This backpack is made to last. But I am very dissapointed with the monogramming! IT IS TINY! I chose the Block Style Font. My childs name is JACKSON. Its a longer name,but the monogramming is so tiny, you can't even see it!
I also bought a lunchbox, the font is bigger on the lunchbox than on the backpack!! Very dissapointed in the monogramming dept.
My daughter is a senior this year and has had this pack since Kindergarten! I cannot believe she wants to see if she can get through all her years of school with the same pack. The whole family is amazed and we have about 5 of these packs for day trips, sleepovers, etc. Highly recommend this pack to anyone. We will be getting her a new pack for college :)
I purchased this backpack for my son when he was entering kindergarten, knowing that LL Bean would stand by its product if we ran into problems. He just finished 2nd grade and the backpack is still in great shape. This is saying something, because my kiddo is HARD on his things. The backpack has been filled with rocks, dragged in the dirt, and thrown around. The reflective tape is looking a little worn, but overall the backpack is still going strong and will last us another year...at least!
It isn't a huge backpack, but has room for his usual school stuff - a folder, a library book or two, his lunchbox, a sweatshirt, and a small toy or container if he is bringing something for show & tell.
