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 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. ( )

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 really enjoyed those one: silly and funny and very very readable. ( )

I just loved this story! I listened to it as well and Hugh Laurie was a wonderfully playful narrator! ( )

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. ( )

Billy joins the Ladder-less Window Cleaning Co. and gets more than he bargained for.

❧ audiobook review

This is one Roald Dahl book I'd actually never heard of! I'm surprised, because it was written in 1985, but somehow it slipped past me until today. I didn't love it as much as Matilda, The Witches and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, but it's very cute in its own right! The audio book is narrated by Hugh Laurie, which I thoroughly recommend. He sings!



Also, the list of sweets at the end is an absolute delight! You can tell Dahl loves sweets, haha. Apparently he published a cookbook as well? What rock have I been living under? I really want to try some of his recipes now. I mean, the man who gave us The Chocolate Factory can only create epic dessert, surely? :D

Anyways, super cute book, definitely recommend. ( )

Good illustrations. ( )

This little book was quirky, fun and adorable. Everything I'd expect from Roald Dahl.

I know I don't often review children's books, but some just deserve a bit of love. Silly nostalgic books from silly nostalgic authors. Between The BFG and Matilda, Roald Dahl ruled my childhood. And, as I've grown into adulthood, I've learned he wrote a lot more books than I knew when I was a kid. Am I going to let being 28 stop me from reading them? Um, no.

The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me is a cute little one-off story about a boy and his three new friends who are window washers. They are, naturally, a giraffe, a pelican, and a monkey. They are simply the best because they won't get dirty ladders on your house, they can reach all the windows, and they have their own charming theme song. As it is somewhat difficult for three animals to make business arrangements with adults, young Billy becomes their manager.

This story was accompanied by the same charming illustrations you find in most of Dahl's books. There were the usual silly hijinks. There's even a reference to Wonka candy, reminding us that Dahl's worlds are all interconnected.

It's hard to find a lot to say about a book that is only 70-ish pages long and filled with illustrations other than it was delightful. It only took me abut 15 minutes to read, so it was no trouble at all. Great for kids because it is fun and silly. Great for adults because, honestly, I chuckled. I'd rather read a Roald Dahl book than a grim new story any day, and it takes up just as much time. ( )

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 ( )

When Billy joins The Ladderless Window-Cleaning Company, he's in for the time of his life. What else could a Giraffe with an extending neck, a Pelican with a bucket-sized beak, a dancing Monkey, and Billy, a boy with a dream be but the Ladderless Window-Cleaning Company?

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 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. ( )

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 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. ( )

i though this book was interesting for young children and very different ( )

Not my favorite Dahl book, but still a really good one. And Willy Wonka's chocolates make an appearance, too! ( )

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 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! ( )

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. ( )

I just loved this story! I listened to it as well and Hugh Laurie was a wonderfully playful narrator! ( )

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 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! ( )

A lovely children's tale about an unconventional firm of window cleaners! ( )

The final Roald Dahl chapter book I read to my children, amusing and sweet but not much more. ( )

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 read this to kids under, say, 7 or 8. ( )

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 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. ( )

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 strong

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? ( )