Back to School Basics: Best Disney Princess Backpacks

I always used to joke that the reason I had kids was so I could go to see all the Disney movies without looking strange. When my daughter was just tiny, she got to go see Cinderella. We memorized all the different songs from The Little Mermaid and sang them together. Oh, and let's not forget The Lion King. By this time, I was painting Disney characters on clothes for her little brother - He had the cutest hand-painted Simba on a dark green sweatshirt. I was so proud of that one!

When school rolled around, there were all sorts of fun things to buy, especially if you wanted something with Disney characters on it. To this day, I'm still drawn in to t-shirts with Eeyore or Tinkerbell on them. I'm disappointed that I've yet to find Pepe le Peu clothing but I kind of understand the reasoning behind that. You really don't want your child advertising that they are the smelly kid in class, no matter how cute that skunk is.

One thing that I always found fun was looking through the different backpacks, especially all the different ones with Disney Princesses on them. If you're looking for some great back to school backpacks for your little princess, I highly recommend some of these popular Disney Princess backpacks:

Straight from the Disney store, one of my favorite Princess backpacks is the Personalized Disney Princess Backpack. It's a really nice tote for the little girl who still loves her Disney but is trying to be a little less obvious about it - a pretty light pink with darker pink tabs, it features a small picture of Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty and Belle on the back, with your child's name underneath. I'm a little mixed, when it comes to putting my child's name in obviously visible places on items, but it does prevent theft or mix-ups. Equally adorable, and I believe a little less obvious, is the Personalized Disney Fairies backpack... but I may be partial to this because I love fairies too.

Of course, I also mentioned my daughter and my mutual love of The Little Mermaid, so I have to include the Disney Princess Little Mermaid School backpack in my list of favorites. This is a smaller school pack, built for younger children and it comes with a complementary water bottle that fits right into one of the two handy side pockets. The smaller backpacks are always nice - I think they're much safer for little ones who are trying to get up and down bus aisles. The smaller size makes this much easier for your little princess to carry. The price is quite affordable, at less than $20.

If your little girl wants a unique Disney backpack, I highly recommend one of the newest Disney Princesses to hit the silver screen - The adorable Tiana, from The Princess and the Frog. The Disney Princess and the Frog backpacks take a break from your traditional princess pink and they focus on beautiful pastel purples instead. My favorite from this collection shows Tiana in a gorgeous aqua dress with a pink and purple sunset in the background. It's truly a beautiful backpack and it's not as pricey as some of the other princess backpacks.

And if we're going to talk fancy princess backpacks, we definitely have to shine the spotlight on the Disney Princess Rolling backpack. Why didn't we have these when I was a kid? I remember dragging all those books around, feeling like I was going to fall over backwards sometimes. It sure would have been nice to just be able to pull up a telescoping handle and wheel my books along with me. I would have especially liked the Fairy Tale Princess rolling backpack, starring some of Disney's most beloved princesses like Snow White and Cinderella. This pack is also nice because it has two large side pockets for easy access, but I do have one fault with it - I like the pink satin ribbon and trim but, in all honesty, I would have rather had a matching water bottle to go with it, especially with the heat we've had recently.

There are a wide variety of backpacks to choose from, depending on whether you want a Disney Princess backpack or a Disney Fairy backpack. The prices seem to range from about $17-35 at most stores, keeping them within a reasonable range and the quality is worthy of the Disney name. Now I just have to wait for a granddaughter to come along, so I can buy her all these great Disney goodies.