The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me

by Roald Dahl, Quentin Blake (Illustrator)

Overview

Who needs a ladder when you’ve got a giraffe with an extended neck?

The Ladderless Window-Cleaning Company certainly doesn't. They don’t need a pail, either, because they have a pelican with a bucket-sized beak. With a monkey to do the washing and Billy as their manager, this business is destined for success. Now they have their big break—a chance to clean all 677 windows of the Hampshire House, owned by the richest man in all of England! That’s exciting enough, but along the way there are surprises and adventures beyond their wildest window-washing dreams.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780142413845
Publisher:	Penguin Young Readers Group
Publication date:	01/22/2009
Pages:	80
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 7.50(h) x 0.30(d)
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Roald Dahl (1916-1990) was born in Wales of Norwegian parents. He spent his childhood in England and, at age eighteen, went to work for the Shell Oil Company in Africa. When World War II broke out, he joined the Royal Air Force and became a fighter pilot. At the age of twenty-six he moved to Washington, D.C., and it was there he began to write. His first short story, which recounted his adventures in the war, was bought by The Saturday Evening Post, and so began a long and illustrious career.

After establishing himself as a writer for adults, Roald Dahl began writing children’s stories in 1960 while living in England with his family. His first stories were written as entertainment for his own children, to whom many of his books are dedicated.

Roald Dahl is now considered one of the most beloved storytellers of our time. Although he passed away in 1990, his popularity continues to increase as his fantastic novels, including James and the Giant Peach, Matilda, The BFG, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, delight an ever-growing legion of fans.

Learn more about Roald Dahl on the official Roald Dahl Web site: www.roalddahl.com

Date of Birth:

September 13, 1916

Date of Death:

November 23, 1990

Place of Birth:

Llandaff, Wales, England

Place of Death:

Oxford, England

Editorial Reviews

The masters of wackiness dish up a giant portion of literary and artistic wit in this saga of T the Ladderless Window-Cleaning Company. Ages 7-10. (May)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Roald Dahl's deft touch takes the reader for an effortless ride into a fanciful world where a giraffe, a pelican and a monkey can join up and form a ladderless window-washing business. They have taken over an old, rundown store that once was a sweet shop. It had long been "for sail" and a young lad named Billy has dreams of opening up the sweet shop once again. Alas, one day he sees the new sign, "Soled." Billy is at first dismayed, but then he is pulled into the wild adventures of the three unlikely business partners and everything works out so that Billy's dream of selling Nishnobblers, Gumlotters, Sherbet Slurpers and, of course, Willy Wonka Rainbow Drops, is finally realized. The window washers sometimes speak in rhyme, which isn't at all off-putting. The world Dahl creates is a child's fantasy that adults will also enjoy as they read to younger children. Quentin Blake illustrations add to the fun as they do in so many of Dahl's books. Reviewer: Carolyn Mott Ford

Children's Literature - Carolyn Mott Ford

Gr 1-4 Blake's frenetic watercolors are quite appealing, but they do not redeem this slight story. A little boy wandering by a deserted old grubber (sweet shop) notices some movement within and meets the owners of the Ladderless Window-Cleaning Co. The building's new tenantsa giraffe, a pelican and a monkeyhave hardly introduced themselves to the lad when a chauffeur-driven limousine arrives to invite the glass-shining team to clean the 677 windows of the Duke's house. After demonstrating their cleaning finesse (and catching a burglar in the process), the three are rewarded with edible gifts and an invitation to live with the Duke. Young Billy receives the renovated sweet shop stocked with candies of the world, which Dahl describes in detail. The charming illustrations surrounding the verse beg to climb off of the oversize pages. Perhaps the effect would be smashing as an animated cartoon, but the minimal plot development makes this an extremely weak book. Susan Scheps, Bertram Woods Branch Library, Shaker Heights, Ohio

School Library Journal