Would this be appropriate?

Lots of children really enjoyed EB books and my grandchildren still do. They read other books too. How do you teach the next generation how appalling it is to hit children? By discussing it with them when they are growing up. Read them the books, talk about how we don't do that any more because we believe it to be the wrong thing to do.

My three adored Enid Blyton, Shirley Hughes, Roald Dhal etc
but also one of their favourites was The Old Man and the Sea by Hemingway when they were aged about eight. I used to read to them when they were in the bath.
My youngest also loved The Lighthouse Keepers Lunch, but hated Harty Potter when he was older and I was trying to get him to read by himself.
I think your five year old grandson would love the Alfie stories and Dogger by Shirley Hughes especially, the illustrations are delightful too.

Spanking is only one of many problems encountered in EB's books. In 1960 her publishers, Macmillan, rejected The Mystery That Never Was on the grounds that “there is a faint but unattractive touch of old-fashioned xenophobia in the author’s attitude to the thieves: they are ‘foreign’ ... and this seems to be regarded as sufficient to explain their criminality”. Her books are 'of their time' and as such they also contain lashings of sexism, racism and snobbery. Don't get me wrong, I read (and loved) all of her books over 50 years ago and to be honest, I wasn't old enough to have either noticed or been influenced by this. If you really want to read EB's books to your grandson, you will either need to do a lot of explaining or only explain if he asks specifically about something. Personally, I would never consider reading EB to my grand kids; as many posters have commented, there is so much to choose from with all the wonderful contemporary books available now for children.

They are fiction!

Old-fashioned fiction, yes, but so were many of the books I read as a child. Along with Enid Blyton books I read the Heidi books (published 1880), the Little Women series (1868), What Katy did (1872) and lots of other novels.
Later on I even moved on to Shakespeare - circa 1600, Thackeray, Austen, Sheridan etc.

Just be ready to explain what some things were like in the olden days and how they are different now.

I was never smacked so it wasn't always the norm.

And as for Alice in Wonderland, Through the Looking Glass etc

When I read my GD Alice I was surprised how inaccessible the language was, especially as I remember loving it as a child . She had good language but found it hard.

Hello Havemercy

I understand how you might want to recreate the stories you told to your children but, as we all know, times have changed so much. However, the good news is there are many wonderful, humorous and very entertaining up to date children’s books around. Visit your local book shop or Amazon. You’ll enjoy them too.

I've really enjoyed sharing some of the more up-to-date books with my DGC.
Although I noticed that the Janet and Allan Ahlberg books date from the 1970s!

Enid Blyton remains in the attic but I wouldn't say they don't have their place if children like listening to them or reading them.
My DC enjoyed the Beatrix Potter books and my DGC do too but my friend, who was an infant teacher, loathed them.

Bridgetsdaughter and Paddyanne, do you remember as a child here in Ireland reading Patricia Lynch books? The Turf Cutter’s Daughter, Brogeen, etc! I’ve just remembered them while reading this enjoyable thread. I read every single Enid Blyton book I could lay my hands on, but also so much more besides. I’m so hoping my 3 year old grandson will be as avid a reader as I was/am, and so far that’s looking good as he has a huge number of books and is a keen member of their local library. Yes!

And Chapeau I agree completely with your post!