I bought two pairs of these in the same size for the last school year and have been very happy with them. I don't know where the shoes would fall apart for some of the other reviewers, but they are pretty sturdy for my 5 year old. The only issue with them is that some of the leather scuffs up right at the toes and isn't much improved by using shoe polish. Judging from other students' shoes (different brands) at school, this is a normal, possibly unavoidable problem for leather shoes worn by active little kids. We live in the UK, where even basic uniform shoes cost more than these, so these are worth purchasing even with the scuffing issue. And I personally think they are much more sensible and comfortable-looking than the ones available here. Just ordered the next half size up and the half size after that to keep us going for the next year, hopefully.I should add that I had ordered wides by mistake a year ago, and although my daughter's feet are not actually wide (she wears M width in New Balance), the wides fit very well. So other reviews that state the wides are not truly wide are accurate in our experience.