My father is desperate to find a cherished book from his childhood in Northern Ireland. It was a compilation of poems and short stories published around 1945-1950. He thinks it may have been a War Economy publication. He cannot remember the name of the anthology. The stories and poems he recalls are,
“How Horatius Kept the Bridge” by Macaulay
A tale about Ralph the Rover who removed the bell from the Inchcape Rock
“Rikki Tikki Tavi” by Rudyard Kipling
“Jackanapes” about the boy who became a bugler in Wellington’s army at Waterloo. I think the author is J H Ewing.
“Stratosphere Express”: the tale of a huge, futuristic airliner that flew at 500 miles an hour and 60,000 feet across the Atlantic and, would you believe, was highjacked on its first trip
“Power on Deck” about the young engineering cadet who saves his ship from certain disaster
There was another story about a mysterious seaplane and the three children who put an end to its smuggling activities… with a little help from the Fleet Air Arm
The adventures of Mr. Bumbletoes of Bumbleton, the nursery floor creation who came alive at night with all his fellow citizens.
“The Children’s Gift Book,” published in 1946 in London by Odhams. I know this because someone else asked about it on this very site! Follow this link and scroll down to “Children’s Gift Book,” and you’ll see all those stories are there.
http://www.loganberrybooks.com/solved-c.html
Should be easy to get a copy — hope your dad enjoys it!
I found a book entitled “The Children’s Gift Book” through Loganberry Book’s main website. There is a page on the website dedicated to children’s anthologies. The book I found was published in 1945 and contains every story you have listed in your query. The book was also published in the UK. I hope this is the one you’re looking for.
PS. If this is the book you seek, eBay has copies for sale through a couple of sellers. Each was listed for around $12.00. Also, I incorrectly mentioned the publishing year in my first post. It was 1946, not 1945.
From Loganberry’s Solved page:
ARMSTRONG, Anthony – BARRIE, J. M. – BLYTON, Enid – GRIBBLE, Leonard R. – JOHNS, W. E. – TOZER, Katharine et al, Illustrated by McGAVIN, Hilda – CHIVERS, Lilian – Maben – SINDALL, Alfred et al THE CHILDREN’S GIFT BOOK. London: Odhams Press Limited, 1946 320pp. Lovely pictorial colour endpapers. Colour frontispiece (David at the Pantomime). Contents Include: Joey by J. M. Barrie – Steven Spurrier, Bumbletoes of Bimbleton by L. C. Ockenden – Maben, The Fairy Who Wasted Food by Geoffrey Dearmer – Newton Whittaker, “Lost – A Very Good Temper” by Enid Blyton – Hilda McGavin, The Table and the Chair by Edward Lear – Pearl Falconer, Tweedledum and Tweedledee by Lewis Carroll – Sir John Tenniel, Power on Deck by N. G. Strong – M. Mackinlay, Cargoes by John Masefield – G. S. Ronalds, The Yellow Wishing-Cap by Enid blyton – Mary Shillabeer, Mother and I by Eugene Filed – Lilian Chivers, Jimmy’s Doughnut by l. C. Ockenden – Maben, Sing a Song of Honey by “Euphan” – F. E. Gorniot, Sir Borloys and the Dark Knight by Anthony Armstrong – Seviour, Pussy Can Sit By the Fire and Sing by Rudyard Kipling – C. E. Lupton, Buried Treasure at Bimbleton by L. C. Ockenden – Maben, The Arsenal at Springfield by H. W. Longfeloow – E. B. Thurstan, Jackanapes by Juliana Horatia Ewing – H. M. Brock, The Inchcape Rock by Robert Southey – William Nickless, The Stratosphere Express by Leonard R. Girbble – E. B. Thurstan, The Wanderings of Mumfie by Katharine Tozer – H. Gooderham, Watering the Garden by Stella Tower – S. H. Russ, The Surprise Party by Kitty Barne – Lunt Roberts, The Wheat Field by Laura E. Richards – Seviour, The Compass Points North by Monica Marsden – Alfred Sindall, Worrals Takes a Hand by W.E. Johns – William Nickless, Telegraph Pots by Rose Fyleman – Newton Whittaker, Rikki-Tikki-Tavi by Rudyard Kipling – Sherrifffs, Night by William Blake – Patricia Morris, The Little Silver Pin by Maura Lee – Gertrude Mittelmann, Faery Song by Fiona Macloed – Gertrude Mittelmann, The Clady Crab by Olive Dehn – Steven Spurrier, Horatiur by Lord Macaulay – Ernest Wallcousins, The Unromantic Princess by Elizabeth
Bowen – Grac Golden, Visit From Father Christmas by Clement C. Moore – H. Gooderham.
I think this might be the book you are looking for. The Children’s Gift Book
Compiled by Odhams Staff London, United Kingdom: Odhams Press, 1946
Contents: The Fairy Who Wasted Food; Lost – A Very Good Temper; The Table and the Chair; Tweedledum and Tweedledee; Power on Deck; Cargoes; The Yellow Wishing-Cap; Mother and I; Jimmy’s Doughnut; Sing a Song of Honey; Sir Borloys and the Dark Knight; Pussy Can Sit by the Fire and Sing; Buried Treasure at Bimbleton; The Arsenal at Springfield; Jackanapes; The Inchcape Rock; The Stratosphere Express; The Wanderings of Mumfie; Watering the Garden; The Surprise Party; The Wheat Field; The Compass Points North; Worrals Takes a Hand; Telegraph Pots; Rikki-Tikki Tavi; Night; The Little Silver Pin; Faery Song; The Clady Crab; Horatiur; The Unromantic Princess; Visit from Father Christmas.
someone else asked about it on this very site!
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That was I, YEARS ago! It was a book kept in my classroom in the 1970s – not sure why, since I don’t remember the teacher’s reading from it. That was the only time I can remember ever reading any stories by Enid Blyton (she’s never been that popular in the USA). I liked the illustrations for Kipling’s Rikki-Tikki-Tavi, especially.