Ollie takes his backpack everywhere with him. Over time he has learned what he can and cannot carry in it, such as he can’t carry an igloo! One day Ollie has a bad day at school starting with not getting the answer right on a paper, he then gets turned down to share his Granola bar with a friend and a bully breaks his toy plane, though his music lesson is enjoyable and he wins a trophy.

Ollie puts all these things and more in his backpack but on the way home, he realises his bag is too heavy and decides to do something about it.

I have mixed feelings about Ollie’s Backpack. The story is sweet and is about helping children who worry to work through their worries. It is also illustrated beautifully. However, I felt it went on for too long and that the beginning didn’t really represent the rest of the story about helping children who worry, I just didn’t understand the need to talk about things that wouldn’t fit in the bag, like a moose or a melon, etc.

I’m sure children will probably enjoy the first part though but in my opinion, I’d rather the book stuck to dealing with the issue it was written for.

Riya Aarini’s latest endeavor is her Carefree Ollie series, written for an early reader audience (ages 5-7). Ollie’s Backpack is Book One in the series, with Book Two following in the Fall of 2020. Stay tuned for more inspiring children’s books!