Backpacks for kids seem hard to come by if you are not inspired by the licensed character merchandise à la Dora, Wiggles, Bob and Bratz. But I discovered these gorgeous animal-inspired backpacks, made by Little Packrats, and tracked down their Australian distributor. These are three of my favourites:

I ordered the mouse one for Rowan, and it’s now his childcare bag. Made from thick vinyl, it’s durable and easy to clean, and the 3D ears are so cute. It is smaller than the average kids backpack, which makes it ideal for toddlers and preschoolers – small enough that you don’t attempt to overload it to make it too heavy. Having said that, it’s not really big enough to accommodate ALL our books from the library and for anyone who’s seen the back seat of my car lately, that’s just as well cos I couldn’t reasonably expect a toddler to carry that weight…

Rowan’s bag was bought with the intention that he would wear it on our forthcoming overseas trip. We are going to JAPAN! Yippee! But right now, Rowan hasn’t quite got the idea that he is supposed to wear the bag on his back, so invariably it’s me who can be seen carrying it on my shoulder. So now I’m not so sure that this bag will make the cut with all the new rules on carry-on luggage…

More posts on the travel theme coming soon. Meanwhile, Lou is having a sunny break up north, and some guest posts will be appearing shortly.