I am obsessed with anything by Eric Carle and when I saw this I had to buy it for my 15 month year old. I have not used it outside yet. He just plays with it like it is a stuffed animal. I already have an elephant that looks the same as this harness. The couple of times that I have put it on my child he has walked around trying to get the leash part of it. As for placing object s inside there. It is very small, so it can fix like a small toy and a bottle of water.

My daughter loves her little elephant backpack. This thing is so cute. I think she feels like she has a purse like mommy and it's really nice that I can throw some stuff in the pocket in back as well. It's not huge but it's enough for a snack and a small toy. Usually I get comments that it's really cute instead of comments about her wearing a leash, which is a bonus.

My son loves his bear! I never understood the whole kid on a leash thing, and I'll admit I use to judge a little bit. My first child was and is very easygoing, obeys, holds hands, doesn't run or throw herself on the floor in toddler fits of rage. "Teach your kid what's acceptable and what isnt!" I said (to myself). And then.... I had my second child. He is, to put it nicely, very strong willed. A real handful. Wants to do what he wants to do when he wants to do it. He's a runner. A fighter. An explorer. Sometimes it's wonderful, other times it's frustrating, and at 2 years old, can be dangerous. I bought this harnessed backpack specifically for a busy farmers market we would be going to, and I was amazed. He loved it! He put it on, buckled himself, and handed the "tail" to his grandpa. He didn't try to escape or walk too far. He was just so content. Also, these have come a LONG WAY in the 27 years since I was 2. My mom never had one, but I remember being a small kid and wondering why kids were on leashes. And they LOOKED like leashes. This looks like a cute stuffed animal backpack, because it is. It won't hold much, maybe a few packs of fruit snacks, but really, no need to stick a bunch of crap in there and weigh down a toddler. It's so nice to be able to give a kid a little freedom without worrying that they'll go too far and get snatched or hurt

This is so cute. To be honest, I scoffed at having my toddler on a leash, I just hate how it looks. But my mother is handicap to the point that she cannot run. She loves to watch my daughter, but my daughter has a bad habit of running off and getting into the street or running up the stairs. My mother cannot chase her, so we thought of buying this in order to help her out when they need to go outside. My daughter loves it and calls it her "pack pack" and it helps my mom to keep track of her without injury to either of them. It is a win win situation! The backpack actually has a compartment to hold small items if you need to, so it is functional too. The leash disconnects as well, so the elephant can also double as a stuffed animal since it is very soft. We love it!

I love Eric Carle and always have since I was young. The books and the colors were always my favorite. The elephant is nicely colored and is super soft to the touch. My son liked that his tail was what I was holding, i dont think he feelt as if i was holding on to him. If you have a child who might try to run or yank, the cord is not made of anything specific to be able to deal with it. However when my son tried to do the same thing, i gave him a small tug back and he realized he might break his new bag. I like that the harness is also a bag, so that the child can grow with it. Nicely made bag/harness with beautiful colors!
I got this at a discounted price.