Would this be appropriate?

I would stick to Julia Donaldson. Enid was all we had and enjoyed, but the choice now is so much better.

Having said that my GC enjoyed some recordings of Famous Five we listened to in the car.

I love a good Enid Blyton.
Naughty toys always get their comeuppance, learn their lesson, and mend their ways.

I know exactly what you mean. My mother started reading Snow White to my GS when he was quite small and, to her horror, there was something about a stabbing in as I recall. Also there are tales of wicked stepmothers.

My children were brought up reading Enid Blyton though and most stories are wonderful. However some of it is not deemed politically correct now and you will find some words and phrases that seem old fashioned. I'm not sure what to advise you.

But what I will say is that my GS (now 12) has been brought up on books by people like David Walliams - and he hates reading now and I wonder if this is partly why - because they are such dross.

If you had the time you could type out some Enid Blyton stories and alter them where you considered it appropriate to do so. Or if you are reading the stories to the little boy you could alter the text in pencil before you start (although of course you're defacing the books by doing that). I did this with some Just William stories - there were a lot of words in there that I knew my son would not understand and I didn't want him to lose interest. So I wrote in the margin what the words meant. Consequently he loved them. I do feel from what I have seen that today's children's books are mainly a load of rubbish.

I have always explained to my grandchildren that in the old days this or that happened. You can tell them this story was when naughty children used to be smacked but we don't do it any more. I don't think you should keep the past hidden from them. I told mine that children used to sweep chimneys and work in factories, and that they weren't lucky enough to go to school!

First of all I would ask your grandson's parents if they agree to you reading the books to him. Some people object to Enid Blyton altogether, either because of things like spankings or because they are not very well written.

Then if they agree I would read the stories as they are but use them to start a discussion about corporal punishment with your grandson.
e.g. How would you feel if you were given a spanking?
Would it stop you being naughty? I'm really glad that no one smacks you! etc.

I don't think a 5 year old needs to trouble his/her head by thoughts of adults spanking children in the past.

Tricky one. Our GD is being read Enid Blyton and, although she's older, I'm sure there are things in the stories that don't fit with current ideas.

I'd be inclined, with parental approval, to try one with minimal corporal punishment and explain that it was something that happened 'in the olden days' but people don't do that any more.

As you say, there's a lot to be missed story-wise if they're all consigned to the bin.

We read them to our GCs and then they read them themselves, we just explained (as we read them) that some things in the book were very old fashioned and we do things differently today, we then had a chat about how effective the naughty step was........ as it turned out, not very!
Just wait until you get to the Just William books! They found them hilarious, but again, very old fashioned. I think a 5 year old will be fine with them.

There are so many lovely books for young children now. Enid Blyton was dated 40 years ago when my children were little. I have found my grand children want books with more modern illustrations. We have a story book of Cinderella where she only agrees to marry the prince when he agrees to do his share of the chores!