The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me

In the 1985 children’s book The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me by Roald Dahl, a boy befriends three animals who operate a window-washing service. They set out to clean all 677 windows of the mansion of the richest man in England; in the process, they capture a notorious jewel thief and open a store filled with candies from around the world.

Dahl’s books have won many awards and sold over 300 million copies, making him one of the most popular children’s writers in the world. More than a dozen of his stories have been made into motion pictures. The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me is illustrated by award-winning writer-artist Quentin Blake.

This guide is based on the ebook version of the 2009 edition.

Plot Summary

Billy yearns to own a candy shop, and an abandoned one stands near his home. When it’s bought and remodeled to fit a giraffe, Billy takes notice. Living with the Giraffe is a Pelican and a Monkey. The three animals run a window-washing business called the Ladderless Window-Cleaning Company. The Giraffe is the ladder, the Pelican’s spacious beak pouch holds the wash water, and the Monkey wipes the windows. They sing songs about how good they are at their work, but are currently unemployed and hungry.

The Duke of Hampshire, the richest man in England, sends a chauffeur to ask the new window washers if they’ll clean his mansion’s 677 windows. They accept. They hurry over to Hampshire House, where they find the Duke trying to get his gardener to pluck the topmost fruit from a cherry tree. The Pelican takes Billy to the treetop, where the boy harvests the fruit, and they bring it to the Duke.

The animals demonstrate their window-washing prowess, and in no time, they’ve cleaned all the fourth-floor glass on one side. The Duke is ecstatic: In 40 years, he’s never gotten his windows clean, and now he can look through them and enjoy the view. While cleaning the third-floor windows, the animals spy a gun-toting jewel thief in the Duchess’s suite. The Pelican swoops inside, captures the burglar in his huge beak, and flies him down to the lawn. The thief tries to force his way out of captivity, even shooting his pistol, but the Pelican shakes his head forcefully and stops the man.

The alarmed Duchess rushes from the mansion because her diamond jewelry has been stolen. A retired opera singer, she sings a song that laments the loss of the jewels, and others join in. The police arrive and arrest the thief, whom the Chief of Police announces is the notorious Cobra, the world’s best and most dangerous burglar. The Chief returns the jewels to the Duchess, who’s so delighted, she faints. The Pelican has a bullet hole in his beak’s pouch that will leak wash water, but the Duke promises to have his chauffeur patch it like one would a car tire.

To reward the animals for their heroic service, the Duke invites them to live with him on his estate. He only asks that they clean his windows, and harvest cherries and apples in season. They agree, but the Giraffe points out that she can only eat the flowers of the tinkle-tinkle tree. The Duke happens to have a plantation of these trees, and the Giraffe is overjoyed. The Duke also has many nut trees with plenty of the walnuts the Monkey craves. The Pelican adores salmon, and the Duke owns the River Hamp, which teems with the fish.

The Duke then asks Billy what he wants for a reward. Billy asks if the old Grubber sweets shop can be restarted. The former declares that he and Billy will restart it together. The animals, who own the shop, promptly donate it, and it gets rebuilt and stocked with the most delicious candies from every corner of the globe. On opening day, crowds of children pile into the store, and news outlets cover the event. Billy gifts all his new friends with bags of candies that are just right for each of them.

The three animals say goodbye to Billy and return to their new home at Hampshire House. The Monkey sings a song that reminds readers that all of them will always be right there in the book whenever readers want to visit them.