The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me
Encyclopedia
Roald Dahl
Roald Dahl was a British novelist, short story writer, fighter pilot and screenwriter.Born in Wales to Norwegian parents, he served in the Royal Air Force during the Second World War, in which he became a flying ace and intelligence agent, rising to the rank of Wing Commander...
and illustrated by Quentin Blake
Quentin Blake
Quentin Saxby Blake, CBE, FCSD, RDI, is an English cartoonist, illustrator and children's author, well-known for his collaborations with writer Roald Dahl.-Education:...
.
Synopsis
The story itself is loosely based around Billy, a young boy who has always dreamed of owning a sweet shop, especially since there is an abandoned one named The Grubber (an old slangSlang
Slang is the use of informal words and expressions that are not considered standard in the speaker's language or dialect but are considered more acceptable when used socially. Slang is often to be found in areas of the lexicon that refer to things considered taboo...
English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
word for sweet shop) near where he lives. One day, he finds that the old building has been renovated and has become the head office for the Ladderless Window-Cleaning Company. Billy then meets its workers, a Giraffe
Giraffe
The giraffe is an African even-toed ungulate mammal, the tallest of all extant land-living animal species, and the largest ruminant...
with an extendable neck, a Pelican
Pelican
A pelican, derived from the Greek word πελεκυς pelekys is a large water bird with a large throat pouch, belonging to the bird family Pelecanidae....
(or "Pelly" as he is called by the others) who can retract his upper beak, and a Monkey
Monkey
A monkey is a primate, either an Old World monkey or a New World monkey. There are about 260 known living species of monkey. Many are arboreal, although there are species that live primarily on the ground, such as baboons. Monkeys are generally considered to be intelligent. Unlike apes, monkeys...
, whom he then befriends. They all band together when they receive a letter from the Duke of Hampshire
Hampshire
Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...
asking them to clean the windows of Hampshire House.
When they get there, things go smoothly until the Giraffe and the Monkey, while cleaning the windows of the Duchess's bedroom, spot a burglar who attempts to steal the Duchess's diamond jewellery. The Pelican then flies in and catches the burglar in his beak, holding him there while the others panic. Eventually, the police arrive to arrest the burglar, whom the Chief of Police identifies as "The Cobra", one of the world's most dangerous cat burglars.
As a reward for retrieving the Duchess's diamond
Diamond
In mineralogy, diamond is an allotrope of carbon, where the carbon atoms are arranged in a variation of the face-centered cubic crystal structure called a diamond lattice. Diamond is less stable than graphite, but the conversion rate from diamond to graphite is negligible at ambient conditions...
s, the Duke invites the L.W.C.C. to live on his estate
Estate (house)
An estate comprises the houses and outbuildings and supporting farmland and woods that surround the gardens and grounds of a very large property, such as a country house or mansion. It is the modern term for a manor, but lacks the latter's now abolished jurisdictional authority...
as his personal helper. Billy's dreams come true because the Giraffe, Pelican and Monkey will no longer be needing the Grubber building; with a little help from the Duke, the Grubber is reopened into the most fantastic sweet shop in the whole town (even selling sweets from the Willy Wonka
Willy Wonka
This article is about the fictional character. For the candy company, see, The Willy Wonka Candy Company.Willy Wonka is a fictional character in the 1964 Roald Dahl novel Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and the film adaptations that followed. The book and the 1971 film adaption both vividly...
company). And they live happily ever after.
Relations to other Roald Dahl books
- When Billy reopens The Grubber he chooses to sell sweets made by the Willy WonkaWilly WonkaThis article is about the fictional character. For the candy company, see, The Willy Wonka Candy Company.Willy Wonka is a fictional character in the 1964 Roald Dahl novel Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and the film adaptations that followed. The book and the 1971 film adaption both vividly...
company which readers will recognise from Dahl's earlier novels Charlie and the Chocolate FactoryCharlie and the Chocolate FactoryCharlie and the Chocolate Factory is a 1964 children's book by British author Roald Dahl. The story features the adventures of young Charlie Bucket inside the chocolate factory of the eccentric chocolatier, Willy Wonka....
and Charlie and the Great Glass ElevatorCharlie and the Great Glass ElevatorCharlie and the Great Glass Elevator is a children's book by British author Roald Dahl. It is the sequel to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, continuing the story of young Charlie Bucket and eccentric candymaker Willy Wonka as they travel in the Great Glass Elevator.Charlie and the Great Glass...
.
Editions
- ISBN 0-224-06493-2 (hardcoverHardcoverA hardcover, hardback or hardbound is a book bound with rigid protective covers...
, 2003) - ISBN 0-224-02999-1 (hardcover, 1985)
- ISBN 0-14-131127-4 (paperbackPaperbackPaperback, softback or softcover describe and refer to a book by the nature of its binding. The covers of such books are usually made of paper or paperboard, and are usually held together with glue rather than stitches or staples...
, 2004) - ISBN 0-14-056819-0 (paperback, 2004)
- ISBN 0-14-036527-3 (paperback, 1993)
- ISBN 0-14-050566-0 (paperback, 1987)