The best lunchboxes and lunch bags: Back to School Guide 2013

Finding the best new lunchboxes and lunch bags for kids is one of our favorite back to school rituals. It's even more fun that we get to pick more than one, since we're shopping for you all! This year for our back to school shopping guide, we've pared it down to 14 options from adorable to funky to almost too cool for school. Even some lunchboxes that you might not mind borrowing yourself.

Striped Milkdot Lunch Totes We're longtime fans of these sturdy, insulated lunch totes and the new colors and patterns only seal the deal. ($27, Milkdot)  

Raccoon Lunch Bag by BUILT NY Perhaps the only time you won't freak out to find a raccoon on the lunchroom table, surrounded by food. Great bag at a great price. ($17, Amazon)

Cars Lunch Sack by Sugarbooger Love the groovy retro styling and the pop art colors. Not your average transportation-themed lunch bag. ($18.05, Amazon)

Fender Guitar Amp Lunchbox So realistic, a passing garage band might load it into their van at the end of the night. ($12.99, Amazon)

Dabbawalla Bird Lunch Bag Our readers are huge fans of Dabbawalla's neoprene lunch bags, which are lightweight, collapse down when empty, and wash clean. This one is sophisticated enough even for an older kid. ($30, Dabbawalla Bags)  

Stegosaurus Lunch Box Alister (that's his name) the Stegosaurus may be long gone in real life, but he's new to one of our favorite lines of durable, parent-approved lunch boxes that kids love too. ($42, Beatrix NY)

Peace Garden Lunch Bag Representing peace, love, and one extra cookie on Fridays. ($18 on sale, PBTeen with monogramming available)  

100% Recycled Animal Lunchpacks No, they're not made from recycled animals--but from recycled PET. Each one is not only adorable, it saves 9 bottles from landfills ($25, Apple Park)  

  Personalized Children's Book Lunch Boxes Find favorite storybook characters from Ivy and Bean to the Hungry Caterpillar in this new collection. There's even a chalkboard on the inside for leaving a love note each day. ($29.99, Chronicle Books)  

Laptop Lunches Insulated Bento Carrier Bento bags are a great way to go, especially for little grazers who'd rather eat a lot of mini things instead of one big sandwich. ($17.99 on sale, The Ultimate Green Store)  

Rebel Green Eco Lunchtote Who knew that after "reduce, reuse, recycle," that the fourth R stood for rebel? Love this funky bag for older girls, or even adults. ($23.99, Rebel Green)  

Airplane Lunchbox Made with a sturdy coated linen, and a leak-proof insulated insert, we've found that the bags from SoYoung aren't just cute, they're really made to last. ($31.99 at Soyoung)

Personalized Spiderman Lunch Bag Eco-friendly PEVA lining on the inside, and tough on the outside, all superhero-like. ($22.50 at PBK, plus $7 for an initial or monogram)

Neoprene Skeleton Lunch Box by Built NY Made from EVA, it's designed to insulated for up to 4 hours. Decorated with skeletons, it's designed to keep lunch absconders away. ($16.48, Amazon) Check out more great picks in our 2013 back to school shopping guide including: The best lunchbox snacks Cool backpacks for big kids The best preschool backpacks