Would this be appropriate?

Hetty agree!
No Enid Blyton in my classroom and the only ones that ever appeared at home were occasional gifts from friends.
As a child I found them tedious and utterly predictable.
One DD liked Mallory Towers for a month or two.
So many wonderful books for children today that EB is irrelevant as far as I can see!

I am not completely sure that this applies to all Enid Blyton books but I do know that some have been rewritten to remove references to things that are no longer considered appropriate and to update illustrations. If you bought the book off ebay it may be an old book but if you went to a bookshop you might find a later altered edition.

For example in The Faraway Tree books the original ones called the children Jo, Bessie and Fanny. The 2002 edition called them Joe, Beth and Frannie. And Dick was changed to Rick. And they have removed things about smacking and slapping so Dame Slap as become Dame Snap who shouts a lot instead.

I'm sure I remember Noddy books have been changed in a similar way too.

I loved Enid Blyton books growing up and although there are lots of good books written today I see nothing wrong in also saying Grandma/Grandad or Mummy/Daddy use to love this book when they were your age and reading it to them too.

I think the test of a good book for children is one adults can read to child and not get bored, or listen in car as audiobook and not be driven mad! Another vote here for Julia Donaldson, as well as Roald Dahl. Our Swedish grandchild loves Pippi Longstocking (Astrid Lindgren)- a total rebel who defies all conventions of how a child should be reared!

Just go on Amazon and put suitable books for a 5 year old in the search bar and you'll get loads of good modern stuff.We weren't allowed Enid Blyton Books ,my dad thought they were very badly written we had classics read to us and by the time I was heading for high school I was reading books 3rd and 4th years were reading .We used to go to second hand book shops and trade in the ones we'd got the week before we were never short of a good book .

The website, www.lovereading4kids.co.uk/ will give you loads of ideas. It makes recommendations for specific age groups so I don't think you can fail to find something age-appropriate for your grandson.

PS I forgot to mention that when they were that age, my GSs loved 'How to Train Your Dragon' as well as most Roald Dahl stories.

Thank you to everyone who has replied. Some very valuable advice about alternatives to EB and shall certainly be looking into that. I will probably speak to grandson's mum and dad before we venture into any of those EB stories to see what their views are. I do remember a couple of stories from own childhood and (badly written or not) there must be a reason why they made an impression remembered all these years later!

I always thought with my children that reading something was better than reading nothing, and I see absolutely no harm in reading Enid Blyton, as long as it’s not all they read. With my children I found it was a good start, and they quickly progressed onto other books.

There are some fantastic books available for all ages now, sadly My youngest granddaughter is hooked on the ‘that’s not my.........’ books, they can get boring after the hundredth read!

I agree. Miss that part out. Ad Lib. Edit ..

Try any Julia Donaldson books.You can buy them as sets from The Book People.Also the Hungry Caterpillar was been a favourite for my grandchildren and children though might be a bit young .

don`t children need to know what life used to be like?
recently, 22 year old gs and his gf came and asked what an oil lamp was, (ornamental one,but working) they have no idea!

It all depends on what his parent think , if they are happy , there's no problem .

I got Enid Blyton stories for my now 35 year old daughter when she was little. She loved them and I enjoyed them along with her. But I recognise that now a lot of things in them are considered inappropriate and non PC. Spanking etc, and calling children Fatty and so forth. They were good stories and very funny sometimes, but to be honest I wouldn't buy them for young children now. There are so many wonderful childrens books that are more up to date and suitable.

My grandchildren are avid readers and really enjoyed Enid Blyton as well as all the more modern writers . If necessary you can explain that some things happened in the olden days that don’t happen now.
Having just returned from the supermarket where children were rushing round regardless, including on scooters and taking things off shelves, their parents taking absolutely no notice. It was hell and a bit of “slippering” might not go amiss!
Sorry I digress.

Does the wolf in ‘The 3 little pigs’ still fall in the pot of boiling stuff as he tries to come down the chimney?
Does the huntsman still cut out the heart of an animal in Snow White?
Does the match girl...or the tin soldier die in their books?
Does the witch get pushed into the oven in Hansel and Gretel?
Just wondering how sanitised we have to be about ‘fairy stories/olden days stories?

If you go to any major high street bookseller in the UK, you will find lots of Enid Blyton books alongside the newer authors like David Williams (and Simon Cowell ?)
I have just bought our Granddaugher ‘The Famous Five’ as I thought she was a very good author, who I loved reading.

My 8 yr old GD loves Enid Blyton books along with many others especially David Walliams and Ronald Dayl. She knows that some things are set in old fashioned days when things were different and also that a naughty child being thrown into space forever will not happen in real life (David Walliams). Just like in children's history books a child understands that is not how it is today. I loved Blyton books as a child ( 1960's). I was never hit or spanked but the books didn't upset me. I just accepted the books as they were, a story. GD is though coming up to 9 so reads many things and can make judgements herself or discuss things. For younger children I'd just read the story and change some of it. Look at some of our much loved fairy tales .... everyone either dies, is cruel, is ill treated or suffers tragedies. Yet we read and watch films about it all with our youngsters.

Old-fashioned as the environments are, as soon as they are old enough, I would recommend Arthur Ransome. Not least because it's always the youngest (underdog) who is the hero in the end, and this is often a girl!

And there are fascinating bits of everyday life which give plenty of information about what it used to be like.

The Lake is so uncluttered in Swallows and Amazons - impossible for kids to potter about in dinghies these days!
But 'Mummy' gave Susan food wrapped in waxed paper. That's making a comeback!

They've probably changed Titty's name though.

Even Ronald Dahl has some questionable poems in ‘Rhyme Stew’, A Hand in the Bird and Physical Training to name but two.
Check them out, they’ll probably give you a giggle !

Discuss this with the child's parents. If they don't object to your explaining that children used to be spanked, then everything is all right.

I would be more concerned myself about the incident in one of the Famous Five books about the Nazi German plane .
My preference would be for E. Nesbit's books rather than Enid Blyton.

There is very little children's literature that doesn't have to be explained. I distinctly remember crying over The Water Babies by Ch. Kingesley, which was prescribed reading when I was nine.

Always surprising what children like. I know a 27-month-old who loves Peter Rabbit, Jeremy Fisher (especially the word 'minnow') and Timmy Tiptoes. 'Who's been digging up my nuts' strikes him as a very comical thing to say. As advised above, check with parents, try one, and use language to expand vocabulary and outdated attitudes as basis for explanation of how ideas etc change over time.

@monkeebeat You can now get alternative versions of some of the traditional fairy tales. Like this one
www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZpYMLp1LdQ

My daughter took the book to read to KS1 children when she was on placement for her TA course. It provoked a lot of lively discussion.

There is also the wolf's version.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFPjf9cz830

JackyB

In the film, Titty becomes Tatty!

Years ago we could have said "what a pity".
I suppose its now a patty!

Some of today’s children’s books are quite horrid. The ones that we had as children, and read to our children, were so much more gentle. What a shame that Noddy can’t be a ‘gay little fellow’.
When you are reading you can always leave any ‘naughty bits ‘.