A Gentle Giant

Effie held the piece of lettuce up in the air, hoping that one of the giraffes would come over and take it from her. She waited patiently, but her arm was getting tired. After a while, one of them noticed her. He ambled over her way from the tree whose leaves he had been nibbling. He moved surprisingly gracefully on his four long, knobby legs. His spotted coat stood out against the backdrop of blue skies and green grass and trees. His head bobbed up and down gracefully in a rhythm with his gait.

When he reached her, Effie caught her breath. His neck was so long that he stood face-to-face with her even though she was on a high platform looking over a railing, and he was standing on ground far below where she stood. She wasn’t afraid, though. He was so gentle. He just looked at her for a moment with his big brown eyes that were fringed with thick, long lashes. Then, he stuck out his long, purple tongue to softly take the lettuce leaf from her hand. As he munched it, she quickly pulled another from her bag and held it out. Her arm didn't feel tired anymore. This was the best day ever!

Most people recognize what amazing creatures giraffes are. These gentle and beautiful animals have incredibly long legs and necks. They have lovely spotted coats and big, beautiful brown eyes. But did you know that a giraffe’s tongue may be one of its most amazing attributes?

A giraffe’s tongue can be up to 21 inches long. That’s just a few inches shorter than two whole feet! Their tongues are prehensile, too, which means that they can control them much like we can control our hands. They can use their tongues to grasp and pull leaves into their mouths.

Since giraffes’ favorite leaves in Africa are very tough and thorny, giraffes’ tongues are very thick and coated with a special saliva to protect them from the thorns. The dark purple color of a giraffe’s tongue also protects it. It keeps it from getting sunburned. That may seem odd—after all, no one puts sunscreen on their tongues!—but giraffes spend a lot of time eating in the hot sun of the African savannah, so their tongues get a lot of exposure.

Who knew that a tongue could be so useful? Giraffes are truly one of the most amazing creatures in the world!

• ✔The first passage is a story about a girl feeding a giraffe, but the second passage is an informative passage that is mostly about a giraffe's tongue.

• ✔The second passage describes a giraffe's tongue in more detail, so it can help the reader visualize what Effie is experiencing in the first passage.