Ever since we saw Brave in the cinema Hollie has been completely obsessed with the film and all the various characters, so when I saw this gorgeous Brave lunch bag in the Disney Store I decided to treat her. Hollie is fast growing out of her previous lunch bag (Dora the Explorer) and this one seems a little more grown up thanks to the attractive rather than childish design, she uses a lunch bag on a daily basis so it's important to make the right choice - while the front of some bags might be amazing, it's not such a good choice if the inside is badly designed and her sandwiches get squashed!

This is not an issue with the Brave lunch bag however and the fabulous outer design is complimented wonderfully by a well thought out and very clean looking inner. I must say here that Hollie's bag differs in design from the one shown above, the reason for this being that Disney endorse several lunch bags from different manufacturers - as I say, this one came from the Disney Store and cost £12.

Visually it's absolutely gorgeous, having a quick blimp around the playground this morning I can see it's definitely one of the nicest amongst her (huge) circle of friends and stands out in a sea of Moshi Monster and Barbie lunch bags! The main body of the lunch bag is a pretty pale blue and pink tartan, this has been finished with threads of silver which don't particularly show up as a metallic colour but catch the light beautifully to give the impression of her bag sparkling. The front panel (the bit that unzips) is a shiny PVC which is a lovely aqua colour, this is glittery and provides the backdrop for a gorgeously rendered image of Merida holding her beloved bow and arrow. Merida, by the way, is a fabulous character and perfect for the girly merchandise which always accompanies any Disney Pixar film - her amazing curly red hair and so-pretty face means anything decorated with her likeness will be a huge hit with any Brave loving little girl.

The zip is attached to three full sides of the flap so when Hollie opens it the bag will open up completely so she can extract the various components of her lunch without struggling to pull things through a too-small gap. In fact, just yesterday she said she loves her new lunch bag because at lunchtime she can put it on the table in the hall and eat directly from the bag as it's 'like a plate with tall sides'! The zip is easy to manage thanks to small tags which have been fastened to each zipper pull, not only this but the flap is rounded so there are no corners for her to struggle with - an important consideration ever since my older daughter had a Power Puff Girls lunch bag which the school actually asked me not to send in again as the zip was so awkward to traverse around the pointed corners!

The inside of the lunch bag is coated with a soft and well padded PVC lining which is mega easy to keep clean with a simple wipe over each evening, and a more thorough clean in the sink when required. There are no deep seams or stitching inside the bag to collect crumbs and bits of food, although as ever you need to pay attention to the inner corners as this is the dodgy area as far as being potentially missed goes. It's an easy bag to pack thanks to the small velcro loop which is designed to hold her drinks bottle (there's no bottle included with this lunch bag, although Brave drinking bottles are available separately) - this is great as I can slide the bottle into place first and pack the rest of her lunch neatly against it and be confident that the bottle will help to keep everything in place and prevent damage to her food.

This lunch bag features a padded carry handle on the top and also a long shoulder strap - thankfully detachable as Hollie's school doesn't allow lunch time bags with strangling-length straps due to the fact that supervision is so much harder with a couple of hundred kids milling around for an hour in the playground. Mark has since used this strap to help secure our TV to its stand, so it's certainly a stronger piece of fabric than it looks! The carry handle is perfect for Hollie and it makes me smile as she walks into school swinging the bag as though it were a briefcase, her eyes light up every morning when I hand her her precious Brave bag and that gives me a little buzz as it's the best feeling when you get a present just right.

It's quite a bulky lunch bag, being a shade over nine inches wide and eight inches tall with a depth of three inches. This is, I imagine, because I am used to her smaller 'nursery size' Dora bag and actually this larger size is much more practical for both me (as packer) and Hollie (as eater) as I don't have to specifically search for snacks that will comfortably fit in the bag once her main sandwich or rolls have been added. As a rule Hollie's lunch usually comprises of a normal bread sandwich, a banana, an apple and some kind of biscuit for pudding - a packet of crisps would fill the top portion of the bag wonderfully but her school doesn't allow crisps as part if their healthy eating campaign, although funnily enough they sell them in their tuck shop AND serve chips on a daily basis!

I absolutely and highly recommend this Brave lunch bag from the Disney Store and am thrilled with Hollie's reaction to it. If you have a little girl who has become obsessed with this fabulous new Disney character this would make an ideal Christmas present - I'd use it myself it's so sweet!