We ordered these boots after a few others we'd tried turned out to be too stiff for our kid to move his ankles. This seemed to make him off balance and made it hard for him to walk. I should note that our kid is a size between 5 and 6 and that his legs are probably shorter than average, which no doubt contributed to his lack of ease in the boots with stiff ankle straps. This boot has a relatively flexible upper with a zip front and elastic pull cord tightener around the top. The wool lining inside made them a bit stiff and it took awhile for him to get used to wearing them, but they were definitely more doable than the L.L. Bean boots we'd tried before. They also seemed to keep his tootsies fairly warm through a visit to friends in Vermont in snowy January. Trouble with snow getting into the boots can be remedied by pulling the pants leg of his snowsuit over the top of the boots -- a tight fit, but it worked. 4 stars