The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me

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 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.

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 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.

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 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?

Why have I never heard of this book before? It's fantastic! It was a lot of fun to read aloud to my boys, ages 4 and 6: a dignified giraffe, a squeaky monkey and a squawking pelican, plus a blustery old duke, and his former-opera-singer wife. The message of friendship and cooperation were, of course, great. And there was even a little shout-out to Willy Wonka. It's a little longer than most picture books (but not as long as Dahl's children's novels), but the picture to text ratio worked well.

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 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 show more 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. show less

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 another visit.

840L

Have you read this delightful story of the Ladderless Window-Cleaning Company? If you haven't, then better snap up this book; so for only a few precious minutes, you can pretend that everything in the world isn't as awful as it seems.

When Billy joins the Ladderless Window-Cleaning Company, he gets a lot more than a new job. First he makes three new friends, then it's time to get to work cleaning all 677 windows of the Duke of Hampshire's house. The Duke is not only the most wealthy man in the country, he's also the most generous. Can he make Billy's lifelong dream come true?

It's a real hoot of a book. You'll get to read about the Pelican's Patented Beak and the Giraffe's Magical Neck. My favorite parts (aside from descriptions of the show more contents of Billy's future grubber/sweet shop) was when the Duchess came running out of Hampshire House, all hysterical and she sang:

"'My diamonds are over the ocean,
My diamonds are over the sea,
My diamonds were pinched from my bedroom,
Oh, bring back my diamonds to me."

Then you as the reader couldn't help but sing the chorus:

"'Bring back, bring back,
Oh, bring back my diamonds to me, to me.
Bring back, bring back,
Oh, bring back my diamonds to me!"

Confession: I’m collecting all of Dahl's books in the hope of passing them on to my future kids & reading it to them during bedtime or even playtime. How’s that for motive? ;)

Book Details:

Title The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me
Author Roald Dahl
Reviewed By Purplycookie show less