The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me

by Roald Dahl

Other authorsQuentin Blake (Illustrator)
Paperback, 2009

Status

Available

Call number

FIC DAH

Call number

FIC DAH

Description

A small boy with a desire to own a candy shop meets a window-washing team composed of a giraffe, a pelican, and a monkey and together they go to work for the wealthy Duke of Hampshire, who makes all their dreams come true.

Publication

Puffin (2009), Edition: Illustrated, 80 pages

Original publication date

1985

Original language

English

Language

User reviews

LibraryThing member stevejwales
I don't know about anyone else, but the older I get the more I find that books aimed at "grown-ups" have a distressing lack of giraffes with extending necks and pelicans with retracting beaks that clean windows and sing silly songs with a monkey. Grown older? Certainly. Grown wiser? Possibly. Grown
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up? No thank you. Not if it means missing out on learning the types of sweets you might sell in a sweet shop in a world where Willy Wonka is only one of many sweet-makers - what better antidote is there to work and worries than silly songs and giggles?
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LibraryThing member krau0098
I have read many of Roald Dahl's books and enjoyed them all. I picked up a clearance bundle of Dahl's books so I could read them to my son and this book was in there. I have never even heard of this book. It is just a slip of a novel; around 70 pags or so. It was a cute little read and enjoyable.
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Nothing outstanding, but a fun read all the same and short enough to keep the attention of a younger child than most of his stories are aimed at.

A little boy lives next to an old shut-down building that used to be a candy shop. Then one day he sees that the building has been cleaned up and now has a sign on it "Ladderless Window Cleaning Company". The cleaning company consists of a pelican, a monkey, and a giraffe. And the little boy is whisked away on a window cleaning adventure that in the end makes all his dreams come true.

This was a cute, short novel. Appropriate for very young children; I think even a 3 or 4 year old would be able to follow it and enjoy it. The pictures are black and white sketches and enduring in their own way. It makes a nice addition to my collection of Dahl books.
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LibraryThing member bookworm12
Another delightful book from Dahl. The title characters have a painting company and meet a rich man through their work.
LibraryThing member TimCTaylor
One of the simplest, shortest, and lightest Dahl books. It's easy-going fun with illustrations on every page. The language is simpler too. My 5-yr-old is having a go at reading it himself.
LibraryThing member RoomTenMatarau
A boy wants to own a grubber. The Duke of Hampshire
LibraryThing member AmberTheHuman
Another Dahl book down! This is a fun book, heavy on illustrations, and, as I remember it, rhyme. It's one of those books where everything goes right, pretty much all the time ... expect for the incident with the robber and the pelican's beak, that was actually fairly concerning. So maybe don't
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read this to kids under, say, 7 or 8.
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LibraryThing member rata
Another great little read by the masterful storyteller Dahl. Billy's biggest wish is to turn a weird old wooden house, "The Grubber" into a wonderful sweet shop. But then he finds a giraffe, a pelican and a monkey living inside - they're the Ladderless Window Cleaners LWCC! Who need ladders when
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you've got a giraffe? They become best friends and when they meet the richest man in all England the Duke of Hampshire, there's a chance Billy's scrumptious-galumptious dream just might come true... If you like Dahl then you'll like this story. I especially liked the rhymes throughout as I felt that they animated the story. Great use of dancing language especially the names of the sweets and what they would taste like.
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LibraryThing member Lizziep
This is a whimsical tale of a window cleaner who uses a giraffe instead of a ladder. This book encourages ingenuity and imagination amongst young children and they will respond to it very well. Roald Dahl creates wonderful personalities in the animals in this book and his character development is
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strong
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LibraryThing member nosajeel
The final Roald Dahl chapter book I read to my children, amusing and sweet but not much more.
LibraryThing member Bagpuss
It’s difficult to review the shorter Dahl books without giving anything away as the blurb pretty much covers it. I enjoyed the story in this one, although for me it’s not as good as Esio Trot or George’s Marvellous Medicine. I haven’t read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory yet, but some of
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the sweets mentioned in the film version are also mentioned in this book and (assuming they are actually in the book and not made up by Hollywood!) it’s nice to see that bit of continuity!
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LibraryThing member nebula21
A lovely children's tale about an unconventional firm of window cleaners!
LibraryThing member pennylane78
I just loved this story! I listened to it as well and Hugh Laurie was a wonderfully playful narrator!
LibraryThing member Lukerik
A story about three economic migrants who come to England and set up their own business, making a success of it and integrating well into society. The ending is a celebration of foreign cuisine and how its importation can enrich our culture.
LibraryThing member ChazziFrazz
This was delightful! I read it in one sitting but it would be fun to read out loud in a couple of sittings.

A very imaginary tale of a boy with a dream to own a sweet shop. He has had his eye on an old, abandoned building that was called the grubber—another name for a sweet shop.

One day he goes by
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and finds that someone has bought it and redone it inside and out. Surprisingly it turns out to be the Ladderless Window Washing Company, which is composed of a giraffe, a pelican and a monkey. From there the adventure takes off.

Along with a fun story there are some great words such as scrumptious-galumptious and flavoury-savoury, and rhyming verses along with the fun illustrations of Quentin Blake.

Enjoyable for all ages that like imaginary adventures!
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LibraryThing member SueinCyprus
Our version of this short novel is in the format of a large style picture book, wonderfully illustrated by Quentin Blake. It’s the second time I’ve read it aloud to my three-year-old grandson and it’s an enjoyable story.

Unlike Dahl books for older children, there are no gruesomely awful
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people. The only adult in the book is a Duke who is rather angry when we first meet him, but his threats of violence are humorous and he's a likeable person underneath.

The story is ridiculous, of course, involving three animals setting up a business. There’s a lot of mild humour in the writing as well as in the pictures, and it makes an excellent book to read aloud.

My only slight problem with the book is two or three instances of mild bad language used by the Duke. It wasn’t a problem to change the words when reading, but it could be disturbing to some.

Other than that I would definitely recommend this as a read-aloud for children of three and upwards, and for fluent readers of any age.
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LibraryThing member JoanAxthelm
This is a really endearing story of a trio of animals that get what is coming to them - a warm home. Dahl's message at the end that these wonderful characters will always be there for the reader resonated with me and my son. We were happy to be reminded we could always open the book again for
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another visit.

840L
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LibraryThing member Shahnareads
If the Pelly was shot from the inside of his beak out, wouldn't he be in an awful lot of pain?
He's got a hole in his beak! Tape isn't gunna fix it.


I do like that they all lived happily ever after.

Although, since when do Monkey's eat Walnuts?

And why would Billy let people take as much as they
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want on the grand opening of his store. People are greedy my child. They will take everything and then you will have nothing. I am sad for you.
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LibraryThing member JosephCamilleri
I was no fan of Roald Dahl when I was young. Probably I was so used to more traditional fare that Dahl's particular brand of humorous fantasy was too surreal and subversive for my tastes. Reading these books with my girls has led me to some pleasant (re)discoveries. The Giraffe and the Pelly and
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Me, Dahl's story about the world's strangest window-cleaning company, is an enjoyable romp which skilfully reinterprets elements of traditional fairy tales. Instead of a Cinderella we get a young boy who seems not to have too many friends, instead of elves and gnomes we get a group of hilarious talking animals and a rich Duke takes on the role of Fairy Godmother. Enjoyable stuff.
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LibraryThing member Black_samvara
Cute, charming and ridiculous. A little boy meets a giraffe/pelican/monkey window cleaning team and together they make their fortune.
LibraryThing member funstm
Billy walks past the abandoned sweet shop he dreams of owning one day and a monkey, giraffe and pelican have bought the place and turned it into the Ladderless Window Cleaning Company. They ask for Billy's help in finding some windows to clean so they can buy their favourite foods. Luckily, the
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Duke of Hampshire has seen their sign and wants to hire them to clean his 677 windows.

This was a silly little tale about using your talents to achieve your dreams, the importance of friends and the enduring nature of books. I enjoyed the rhyming poems and the fun singsong elements of this one. My favourite though was the end lines;

"We have tears in our eyes
As we wave our goodbyes,
We so loved being with you, we three.
So do please now and then
Come and see us again,
The Giraffe and the Pelly and me.
All you do is to look
At a page in this book
Because that's where we always will be.
No book ever ends
When it's full of your friends
The Giraffe and the Pelly and me."


I generally don't enjoy Roald Dahl books but this was one of his better ones. And as per usual Quentin Blake's illustrations are wonderful. 3.5 stars, rounded to 4 for the target audience. 3 stars for me.
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ISBN

0142413844 / 9780142413845
Page: 0.1671 seconds