Review on Merrell Girls Hiking Purple Medium Boys' Shoes : Outdoor by Dan Chunn

Advantages: They have very grippy soles! My 4 year old had no problem scaling slippery logs, muddy slopes, etc. in the coastal redwood cloud forests of the Pacific Northwest. My son loves purple so the design and color scheme is a great find for us (5 stars). They are durable and just a great all round safety shoe for your feet. Cons: NOT WATERPROOF AT ALL. My son tripped and got his foot stuck in a mountain stream (less than 1 foot deep). His boot was immediately soaked, the woolen sock inside the boot was very wet. The other boot was also wet inside. These boots have not dried out in our humid forest conditions, So my investment in hiking boots was enough for 1 day of our trip. The rest of the time my son had to wear regular tennis shoes which were fine in dry weather but obviously didn't do well in wet weather (the purpose of running shoes). Very disappointing. Subtract 2 stars.