‘Little Ruth Backpack Mishap’ by Dee Write aims to teach children about communication, responsibility, and forgiveness through an engaging story. While the intention is admirable, the execution may not resonate with every reader.

Plot: ★★☆☆☆
The plot struggles with realism, as the situations and character reactions feel somewhat idealised and implausible. The book’s attempt to impart valuable lessons about responsibility and forgiveness may come across as overly simplistic or unrealistic.

Character: ★★☆☆☆
The characters in the story seem unrelatable and lack depth. Their behaviour and interactions do not reflect typical childhood experiences, which might make it difficult for readers to connect with them.

Illustrations: ★★★☆☆
The illustrations are serviceable and contribute to the narrative, but they do not stand out as particularly memorable or engaging. They provide a visual context but do not enhance the story significantly.

Engagement: ★★☆☆☆
The book’s ability to capture and maintain the reader's interest is limited. The lack of relatability in the plot and characters may affect overall engagement, making it a less compelling read.

Readability: ★★★★☆
The text is clear and accessible, making it easy for young readers to follow. However, the readability is somewhat overshadowed by the challenges in the plot and character development.

Enjoyment: ★★☆☆☆
Overall enjoyment is diminished by the book’s unrealistic portrayal of characters and situations. While it has educational value, it may not provide a satisfying or enjoyable reading experience for all children.


‘Little Ruth Backpack Mishap’ has noble intentions but may fall short in delivering a relatable and engaging story. Its focus on teaching important life lessons is clear, but the execution may not resonate with every reader due to its unrealistic characters and plot.

In "Backpack Mishap," Ruth and her siblings face chaos when curiosity leads to disobedience, causing a messy adventure filled with torn backpacks and scattered charms. With guidance from their Grandma and mom, the kids learn valuable lessons about communication, responsibility, and forgiveness, making it an overall heartwarming story about family and growth.

I thought that this was a really good story with some great messages.

The book tells the story of a backpack owned by Ruth in the main and the actions of Ruth's younger twin sisters after they were told to stay out of Ruth's bedroom, and away from her backpack - instructions that they did not follow.

The book deals with the consequences of their actions and the fall out between Ruth and her sisters. I enjoyed how the story was written, it is easy to follow and understand and gets the spirit of the book over very well too. I thought it was very well done.

The illustrations in the book were great and really brought the story to life too.

It is 5 stars from me for this one, very highly recommended!

Ruth and her siblings Timmy, Abby and Annie are excited to have their grandmother visiting and enjoy helping her make ants on a log for afternoon tea. Abby becomes interested in how Ruth has decorated her backpack and wants to touch the new accessories. Ruth tells her she doesn’t want her to touch it and ruin her hard work. However, while Ruth is at her piano lesson, Abby and Annie sneak into her room and play with the pack, leaving peanut buttery handprints on the backpack and causing the charms to fall off. Ruth is devastated when she sees what her sisters have done in her room. Mum then takes the girls to the den to discuss what happened.

This engaging story is a beautiful exploration of active listening, turn-taking, and forgiveness. Mum introduces a unique tool, the Campbell Family Discussion Ball, to guide the girls in their communication. This technique encourages them to listen attentively and express their feelings openly.

The illustrations in this book are bright and beautiful.

I highly recommend this book to all children and schools. Well done on an incredible book.

The story that the author was trying to tell was good but it felt choppy as well as the artwork. Character's dialog was very monotone and felt rushed and fake. I guess this is a book more focused on gentle parenting, but it bothered me that the girls that disobeyed their sisters wishes and didn't listen to their grandmother was still rewarded with a fun sleepover instead of being punished. Didn't feel like a lesson to teach children that if they disobey they get rewarded.

You can have compassion and discipline. There doesn't have to be one or the other. Letting the girls talk it out is nice, but saying the older daughter gets a sleepover, but the twins have to sit it out shows them they did wrong and there are consequences for their actions.

Oh dear. Really plummy language and stilted illustrations convey the story of a girl whose twin sisters disobey her wishes, get in her bedroom behind her back, and trash the place through ill-discipline. This brings out a Discussion in the Den, where you need to hold the Great Ball of This Isn't Real Life to speak, enforce Complete Forgiveness as opposed to any actual discipline, and everything is sweetness and light. Throughout this the whole thing was a most cloying experience, with sickly sweet characters, and a style that just made me think how few books are written with this approach these days, and how few children will actually like it. It's about acceptance of other people's faults, etc, but I can't really accept those on these pages. Pish and indeed tosh.

This is a beautifully written and illustrated book focusing on consequences and making amends using a simple technique as passing the ball to talk. There are three symbols portrayed embedded in the illustrations meaning; reconciliation, wisdom, and having heart this book illustrates these concepts when twins destroy their sister’s backpack after having been told “to not touch”. The resolution was appropriate and everyone went away feeling better. We could only hope that these types of things were as easy to fix, but with practice it can be a tried and true method of resolving conflict.
I like how the author highlighted certain words in rainbow colors that lead to a discussion on meaning.
I think this is perfect for a classroom environment of younger students just learning how to talk about their feelings

An exploration of boundaries, rules and forgiveness set within a story which makes it a great learning tool for slightly older children.

I really wanted to love this but I felt although the illustrations were brilliantly drawn I felt they could have a lot more colour to help with engagement.

If only getting over a mishap was that simple!

This book had cuteness threaded throughout. It's a celebration of calmness and conflict resolution where a family has found aplace and a technique to air how each member is feeling and introduce consequences without them being dolled out during a heated confrontation. I'd love to think our family could solve problems quite as easily, but in reality, I think most problems have a bit more push and pull to them before forgiveness is presented and accepted.

Overall, I think the book works well as a storybook for young children (2-7 year olds) to teach them the compassion and manners we expect them to aspire to. It certainly provides some talking points to help younger readers positively address situations where they may have pushed a boundary and created some tension. Given that it is aimed at infants, and that it is a short work, I can understand why the discussion about the bad behaviour was not explored in more detail. Owing to the brevity of the resolution, and a lack of exploration of wider feelings arounf the central drama, i rate this book 4 out of 5 stars.

In addition, I really appreciated the soimple yet elegant pictures. Wonderfully drawn illustrations with a combination of neutral and pink tones.