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The Giraffe and the pelly and me
This story by Roald Dahl is about three peculiar, innocent and hardworking window cleaners — the giraffe, Pelly the pelican, the monkey and a young boy named Billy. This story is told by Billy, who narrates that not far from his house, there was a queer, old empty wooden house standing all by itself on the side of the road. Billy would observe that building closely and would at times peep inside it. One day while peeping, he realised that the building had once been a sweet-shop. Soon the building was put on sale.
After a few days, Billy saw that the “For sale” sign had disappeared and the “Sold” sign had replaced it. Billy wanted to know who had bought that building because secretly, in his heart, he wished to own, renovate and run the shop.
After a few days, Billy came to know that the owners of that old building were a giraffe, Pelly the pelican, and a monkey. Billy made friends with them. After chatting with them, Billy discovered that the three owners of the building were window cleaners by profession. They would go to the houses of different people and clean their windows.
Pelly the Pelican is a large bird and her beak works like a bucket. It could also be used for other things such as transportation; Billy at times would sit inside it and Pelly would fly him to where ever he wanted to go. Pelly’s favourite food is Salmon and Cod. The second is the monkey who is fond of nuts and likes to dance and sing. The giraffe is a tall animal and helps to reach high windows. Her favourite food is the flowers of the Tinkle-Tinkle tree. She can also stretch her neck as long as she wants to. Isn’t that amazing?
You surely will be amazed to know that the business manager of the great window-cleaning company is no one else but Billy! The book describes the time when the company gets the order to clean the windows of the house of the richest person in England. Also read about how Pelly helped catch the thief who stole the rich man’s wife’s jewels.
You will see that Billy’s great wish to own the sweetshop comes true and how the three animals are able to have their favourite food in bulk.
It’s a lovely long tale, written in easy language; the illustrations by Quentin Blake are great too. So pick this book up and get ready to embark on an exciting voyage with Billy, Pelly the pelican, the giraffe and the monkey.
Ghanim Akhtar
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