Laughed alot to this story... it was cute fun just like my childhood imaginations...

Roald Dahl was my favorite author as a kid. So fun to discover some of his books I missed. Read this with my 4 year old and he loved it too!

A charming, funny little tale with some suspense thrown in the mix! I always enjoy Dahl's writing

I imagine myself curled up in a squishy bed surrounded by a trio of tiny-tots. As I read aloud, their attention is captured. The scruffy l’il boy stops tugging his sister’s pigtails. She in turn stops sticking her tongue out and making rude noises. And the third one unglues himself from the fascinating sight of the family-dog licking itself, long enough to get hooked. *Hypothetical Happy Place*.That’s what Dahl’s kiddie-books do to you.

And this banana-yellow covered book is one more of his ludicrous tales. Who else but Dahl would think of a ladderless window-cleaning company being assigned to a trio of animals? So we have a giraffe (whose long neck makes ladders redundant)...a pelican (with a nice deep beak to hold the cleaning water) and a sprightly little monkey (to do the actual wiping and polishing).

Flaky? n  Yesn. Fiendishly clever as some other Dahl Books? n  Non. And yet…it is endearing in it’s simplicity.

از بزرگ‌ترین افتخارات زندگی‌م اینه که با کتاب‌های رولد دال بزرگ شدم...
من و زرافه و پلی هم برای همیشه جزو محبوبترین کتاب‌های من باقی می‌مونه

Absolutely magical. PS you've got to read the poems out loud, that is the only way to do it.

A short story about a Giraffe, Pelican and Monkey who open up a ladderless window cleaning company, who become friendly with a small boy called Billy. It's full of all the Dahlian humour and whimsy and nonsense, but like always it has a nice serious edge to it.

Very charming, though definitely not his best and quite unsubstantial in reality. In general, it's written as well as all his others but I think the emphasis on the whimsy really helped this particular story, especially since it was more along the lines of almost-believable whimsy. Just a nice, delightful quick read for any child or adult, and I'm sure any competent child could definitely handle it alone.


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کتاب را برای یک پسر بچه هفت ساله خواندم. صدای‌ام را موقع گفتن دیالوگ هر کدام از شخصیت‌ها عوض می‌کردم اما بیش‌تر از قصه، مجذوب حس حیرتی شدم که در چهره‌ی پسرک آشکار شده بود. میل شدید به شنیدن و پیش‌رفتن قصه، اشتیاقی که او را از تبلتش جدا کرده بود و آن‌چنان رام شده بود که سرش را تکه‌ داده بود به بازوی‌ام و تصاویر کتاب را نگاه می‌کرد و شگفت‌زده می‌شد هر لحظه. فکر کردم همه‌ی ما اینجوری بودیم آن اوایل و هنوز هم گاهی، فقط گاهی این شکلی می‌شویم. به ندرت، اگر قصه‌ای بتواند به عمیق‌ترین نقطه روح‌مان متصل شود.

Another great re-read!

Bring on more Dahl! I feel as though I can sprint through these books (which, I admit, are geared for children) and share them with the world. After a sweets shop goes on the selling block, our narrator, Billy, watches with amazement when a new company mysterious appears, as if overnight. Billy goes to check things out, where he comes across a giraffe sticking its head out of the top-floor window. Thereafter, a pelican emerges to share the story of their window cleaning business, which is rounded out by a highly energetic monkey. Its name? The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me (as if there were any doubt!). Through a rhyming, sing-song narrative, Billy learns a little more about this ragtag group of three and how they hope to impress the townsfolk with all their washing abilities. After a letter arrives from the Duke of Hampshire, Billy and his three new friends begin the journey to offer their window washing services. Arriving at this spacious parcel of land, all four find a way to assist the Duke around his estate before discovering a jewel heist taking place within the manor house. Working together, The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me attempt to intercept the thief. Their success could garner more than just a return of the countless number of diamonds the Duchess is missing! Dahl pushes the silliness to the brink here, but the rhyming and sing-song nature keep the story light and full of entertaining antics. Wonderfully crafted and a magical way to end a day with this pre-bedtime story.

Dahl masters yet another story here by finding new characters and new angles to approach. With another child protagonist (as attentive readers will see, many Dahl tales are narrated by children), the story progresses. The precocious narrator goes off to explore the world, alone. I noticed that there are rarely any parental figures found in Dahl's children's books, which was mentioned in a recent biography I read of the author. Billy is free to frolic and find his way, dashing off to an estate with three random animals, where they eventually clash with an armed robber. How interesting for a children's book to remove the 'adult flavour', at least parents, from the narrative and give complete control to a child seemingly the same age as the target audience. The story flows well and the characters work well together to forge a strong story and decent collection of morals and lessons that are threaded throughout.

Kudos, Mr. Dahl for all you have given us. You departed the world much too soon, but left a literary footprint that no one else will ever fill.

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4.5 stars

A Roald Dahl book read by Hugh Laurie? Yes please. So much fun, Roald Dahl's trademark quirkiness is at play, it had me smiling much of the way through :)

I like to start the year with some fluffy books where nothing can go wrong. Roald Dahl created such "safe spaces" for us and despite some suspenseful moments almost all of them have, we always get a happy ending.

In this book, we meeting the following characters:

Billy lives in a street near an abandoned building. The building used to house an old-fashioned sweets shop but is now converted into the home of the titular giraffe, pelican and monkey who open a window cleaning business.
Soon afterwards, they meet the Duke who has been looking for good window cleaners for 40 years so he is delighted when meeting this merry and slightly magical band.

The story tells of easy friendships, adventure and finding something you're really good at even if it might not be what other people picture you doing - and doing it with gusto.
Maybe not as good as my favourites but nevertheless a fun little story, this time full of little rhymes and songs that were delightful.

'The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me' by Roald Dahl tells the tale of a young boy named Billy who, whilst staring at a derelict sweet shop dreams that one day he will own his own which would be 'loaded from top to bottom with Sherbet Suckers, and Caramel Fudge and Russian Toffee and Sugar Snorters and Butter Gumballs and thousands and thousands of other glorious things like that'.

One day he finds that the derelict shop has some new residents by the way of a giraffe, pelican and monkey who just so happen to run a successful window cleaning company. Dahl's brilliant imagination sees these characters using their various physical features to serve their occupation perfectly and as the story continues, even enable them to catch a criminal.

Quentin Blake offers his usual illustrations which perfectly compliment the story and only engage the reader further.

This story is suitable for Key Stage Two children and could easily be incorporated into literacy lessons surrounding poetry (with the monkey continuously talking and singing in rhyme throughout) or even creative writing whereby the tale provides a perfect model of how effective use of imagination can serve a particular writing style and purpose.

This novella would be ideal either for whole class reading or to have in a book corner for children to read independently. The story is, in my opinion Dahl at his finest and I would hugely recommend this book!