Kirkus Reviews QR Code
MY BACKPACK! by Scholastic Inc.

MY BACKPACK!

by Scholastic Inc. ; illustrated by Weldon Swanson

Pub Date: June 25th, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-545-49749-7
Publisher: Cartwheel/Scholastic

A branded lift-the-flap offering featuring five Skip Hop animal backpacks. 

On each double-page spread, a creature uses the Skip Hop pack that it resembles. A bee, which is somehow able to wear a backpack despite (impossibly) having no limbs at all, is paired with the popular bee pack, and a penguin sports a penguin bag. On the left-hand page, the toddlerlike, cartoon animals, in subtly muted colors, are shown either on their way to school or engaged in preschool classroom activities. The facing page is a large representation of the Skip Hop backpack, the bottom-half of which is a relatively sturdy flap. The text, with a gentle rhyme scheme, consists of a simple first-person statement made by the character in the spotlight, along with a question encouraging readers to open the flap: “I’m a little Ladybug. I love story time best! / What food is inside my backpack?” The answer to the query is on the lower half of the flap, which opens down: “Bugs! Didn’t you guess?” The last two pages inform readers that school is over and show all the backpacks, again bearing flaps, lined up in classroom cubbies. Behind the flaps, the packs contain artwork created by the animals that relate to their interests, such as the elephant with a picture of the savanna and the monkey with a drawing of a tree.

While a clever idea, as young children are often obsessed with bags and packs, parents wishing to avoid the overt marketing ploy should seek another title.

(Board book. 18 mos.-3)