Would this be appropriate?

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 .

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

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!

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!

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.

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.

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 .

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!

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.

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!

nothing wrong with being naughty, sometimes.
So I've heard, anyway.

Oh Miss A. Naughty toys. Sorry wrong thread.

I remember removing Enid Blyton books from the library (where I worked) shelves about 50 years ago. It was decided that the content was not suitable - even back then - so NO, don't use them!

That’s why children like them.....

Even more horrific things happen in Ronald Dahl than in Enid Blyton??

If you are reading to the child try The wind in the willows my children and grand children loved it especially naughty toad old fashioned yes but timeless.

Tend to agree with comments above: I quite liked Enid Blyton as a child but there are much better and more relevant books to choose from. Roald Dahl, Shirley Hughes, Julia Donaldson are all on my shelves.

My grandchildren are great readers, they have very diverse tastes, read lots of excellent new modern literature. But they also love a good Enid Blyton.

My youngest daughter absolutely loved The Famous Five, and I longed to go to Mallory Towers.

They’re just stories, Enid Blyton gets a bad press these days, but millions of children can’t be wrong!

When I trained 50 years ago, E B was very unpopular. Partly because they are formulaic and badly written and partly because she wrote so many, over 200 I believe, that a child could spend their childhood never reading anything else. There are so many better books around which don’t have to be a celeb’s latest offering.
Personally I wouldn’t worry too much about the corporal punishment aspect. When I taught the Victorians in Year 2, children found the idea of being caned at school absolutely hilarious. It is so outside their experience. Thank goodness.

I agree with many of the posters here that unfortunately Blyton is very dated. The youngsters in my own extended family all loved Roald Dahl and I’m not sure on the age recommendation, but David Williams books have all been devoured and read over and over (especially by the boys).

I loved Enid Blyton as a child and tried a few out on my own children 30+ years ago. They didn’t really take to them- much preferred Ronald Dahl. I’d suggest scrap the book you bought and find something else. Unfortunately Enid Blyton books are not only dated but actually quite boring!

It's fine to protect them whilst they're young, and once they're teens they'll be playing games like Mortal Combat and Modern Warfare on the Xbox. (Probably!)

It seems to me that children are not as delicate as we think they are, and are unlikely to be upset at things like smacking in stories, particularly if you use it as an educational opportunity! As others have suggested, you can explain that some things happened in the past but shouldn't now.

I have at times threatened to put some of my DGC up the chimney to sweep it, and they have been well aware that it was a joke! Also that in the past children were sent up chimneys (but much bigger ones than mine).

I think children’s literature has gone a long way since Enid Blyton, and there are some wonderful books with beautiful illustrations. Julia Donaldson is good because, as well as being funny and entertaining, her stories are written in rhyme, which is an important skill in learning to read. The old favourites like Shirley Hughes, John Burningham, Ronald Dahl and Judith Kerr are lovely to aloud, and many have moral themes. Ask at your local library or have a browse through their books- I’m sure you will find find riches there.

They always had such wonderful adventures in Enid Blyton books, the Faraway Tree, the Famous Five, the Adventure series, compensation for having no TV!!