Monday, 1 October 2012

THE GIRAFFE THE PELLY AND ME

Reviewed by Jackie Marchant


It was Roald Dahl day recently and there was a thread on Twitter asking everyone what their favourite book of his was.  The Giraffe, the Pelly and Me was one that came up a lot, but it’s one that I hadn’t read.  So I borrowed it from the library and settled down to read it.

The book is about Billy, who dreams about buying the closed down and derelict building that used to be a sweetshop.  But then he discovers that it has been sold – to a giraffe, a pelican and a monkey, who are setting up a ladderless window cleaning business.  But they need to hurry up and find work, before they all starve.

Needless to say, Billy helps them and in doing so, ends up saving a duchess from being robbed by a burglar and fulfilling his dream of owning his sweetshop.

It is typical Roald Dahl in its lightheartedness, absurdity and total believability.  It has everything that children love, from mysterious old buildings to talking animals and dreams coming true, plus some rhymes you can sing along to.  And then there’s the grumpy old man.  And sweets to die for. 

This is everything you’d expect from Roald Dahl – a captivating book about dreams, friendship and co-operation.  Perfect for snuggling up and reading to a child.  But I rather enjoyed reading it to myself.


Return to REVIEWS HOMEPAGE

4 comments:

jongleuse said...

One of our favourites Jackie! The Little Angel Theatre did a fab puppet version a couple of years ago.

Anonymous said...

Good to have a lesser-known Dahl book titles highlighted. And, of course, with pictures by my most favourite illustrator.

Penny Dolan in anonymous mode. (Thanks, Blogger.)

Jane McLoughlin said...

My son and I saw a musical production of this wonderful book 20 years ago in a tent on Shepherd's Bush Green. We still remember some of the songs, and the play was a fabulous introduction to a writer whose work is still an influence on Sean. It's remarkable how many of Dahl's works have been successfully adapted for stage. Thanks, Jackie!

Cassie Bailey said...

Hello I'm so happy sharing this, I still can’t thank you enough powerful Priest Elijah, My husband left for a younger lady because i was unable to give birth due to PCOS,I was so devastated i was lonely i cried a lot i even tried taking my life, Then my friend told me about this great man Priest Elijah who helped her made her marriage perfect, I also went online and did more research about him i was not too sure but i decided to give him a try he told me not to worry everything was going to be alright, He told me all i needed to pay which was a convenient fee and i did and he did his work and sent me video proof and told me to wait 24hrs that he will be back, The next morning to my greatest surprise it was Shawn my husband on his knees begging I'm so happy, It didn’t stop there, I'm proud to say that I'm 3 weeks pregnant thank you so much Priest Elijah I'm forever grateful contact him

universalspellhelp@gmail.com

WhatsApp him +2347054380994

Post a Comment