I bought the lime green original back bag for my kindergartner last year. It was very durable and still could be used this year. It has a few stains on the bottom from sitting on the floor of the school bus and shows only because of the color. If I would have picked a darker color you would not see it. The only complaint about this book bag is does not have the water bottle pocket on the side and at that time it did not seem important. The original plus backpack has a water bottle pocket on the side so it that is a concern go for the Original Plus over the Original. Either way, I would definitely buy this back pack again.
I'm very disappointed that there are no side pouches for water bottles. This is a standard feature on most backpacks in the stores. I bought this for the quality and reviews that it would last a long time, but what's the point if it doesn't have basic convenience features.
Tried and true, this is a great backpack. My daughter tore it out of the packaging and squealed with delight being her first real school backpack. That being said, I do wish there were side pockets for a water bottle. Also, we had the name monogrammed on the top and the thread color is barely a contrast. Also, it was printed in miniscule size so really, her name is barely visible unless you look closely...that really defeats the purpose of having her name and distinguishing from the other classmate that has the same one... Other than that, excellent quality, loves the blue floral print, very happy.
My kids have been using their LLBean backpack for 3 or 4 years now. The SAME one. Little dirty, but not bad and they have held up so well. They don't even want a new one they are so nice.
