The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me Background

The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me is a children’s story written by notable children’s author, Roald Dahl. The book was published in 1985. Quentin Blake, frequent collaborator of Dahl’s, did the illustrations for the book.

The story revolves around the young boy, Billy, who goes on an adventure after meeting three window-cleaning animals, the giraffe, the pelican and the monkey of The Ladder less Window-Cleaning Company. They go on to foil the criminal activities of a burglar when they are invited by the Duke of Hampshire to clean his house windows.

Fans of Dahl will recognize Billy as being the shop-keeper stocking Willy Wonka’s sweets, as indicated in previous books Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (1964) and Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator (1972). A theatre production of the book was shown at the Little Angel Theatre, in London, but was met with poor reviews.