Billy, The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me’s narrator and protagonist, is a young boy who dreams of owning a candy store. He befriends the three animals who have moved into the abandoned sweets shop near his house (The Grubber), and joins them on their window-washing adventures. He overcomes his fear of enclosed spaces by riding inside the Pelican’s beak; from this position, he collects the best cherries from the top of one of the Duke’s trees and presents them to the Duke, which helps prove the animals’ usefulness. Billy and his friends even foil a burglar at the Duke’s mansion. As a reward, Billy is charged with running The Grubber. Through his short and unusual journey, he learns that friendship and kindness can lead to the fulfillment of dreams.

The Duke of Hampshire, an elderly gentleman with an enormous mustache, is the richest man in England. His mansion needs its windows cleaned, and when he meets the three animals who’ll do the job, he’s flabbergasted but quickly adapts to them. A short-tempered man, he initially wants to shoot the Pelican for “stealing” his cherries until he realizes the bird simply wanted to harvest them for him.