UEL Primary PGCE 2014-2015 discussion

This is the story of a giraffe, a pelican and a monkey who have decided to put their individual skills together to run a window cleaning business, called ‘The Ladderless Window Cleaning Company’. They buy an old sweet shop to use as a base for the company, which draws the interest of a young boy, Billy, who helps the company find windows to clean. The Duke of Hampshire hires the team to clean his large mansion, which has many tall windows. With the mixture of the giraffe’s long neck, the monkey’s climbing ability and the pelican’s water carrying beak, and an extra sprinkle of magic, the animals are able to reach the very tall windows of the house. When the animals start cleaning the windows, they catch a burglar stealing from the house. The duke is so grateful to the company he hires them on a permanent basis and in return for their help lets them stay on his vast land. The Duke asks Billy what he can give him to thank him for his help, and he asks him to restore the old sweet shop. The shop is opened and sells wonderful sweets with names such as ‘Gumtwizzlers’, ‘Frothblowers’, and ‘Plushnuggets’.
This is not a book I read as a child, but as a fan of Roald Dahl and giraffes I was given this book as a present. It is a great, fun, unusual story, in a classic creative Dahl style. The illustration by Quentin Blake is beautiful and really brings the characters to life.
I think the book is a great whole class read for early key stage 1 or could be used for individual reading by slightly older children. The book has songs that can be taught to the children to sing whilst reading the book. The book has a strong teamwork theme, but with some magic and silliness thrown in. Each animal has their own strengths, but they would not be able to wash the windows without each other. The animals also show great strength and bravery when capturing the thief. I would use this book to get the children to reflect on their own strength, and to think of the times they need to work together. The younger children could also have a lot of fun drawing the animals and learning more about them and how these animals might use their skills in real life. Dahl uses brilliant descriptive words, and encourages children to use their imagination. This can be used for a fun literacy lesson.
This is a very enjoyable short book to read and I would be happy to use it in many cross-curricular activities. The variety of unusual sweets sold in the sweet shop also lead on to Roald Dahl’s ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’, which would be a great book for the children to read next.