photographs by Richard Hewett A GIRAFFE CALF GROWS UP by Joan Hewett A GIRAFFE CALF GROWS UP by Joan Hewett photographs by Richard Hewett t C AROLRHODA B OOKS, INC./MINNEAPOLIS INA WILD ANIMAL PARK Hobbs is a giraf fe calf. He was just born. 2 Hobbs sits up. He feels his mother’s warm tongue. She licks him clean. 3 Hobbs is hungr y. He has to stand up to drink. The newborn calf is 6 feet tall! 4 At first his legs wobble. But he can drink his mother’s milk. 5 6 He watches the other giraffes. Hobbs stands by his mother’s side. Ther e are 15 giraffes in the park. They form a herd. The gentle animals like to be together. 7 8 J HERDOINING THE Hobbs is a few days old. His mother licks him. She shows him off to the herd. The other giraf fes greet the new calf. They nudge him with their noses. They are friendly. [...]... Africa are dotted with acacia trees Acacia leaves are the giraffe s favorite food Other hooved animals roam these great plains But only the giraffe and the elephant are tall enough to eat from the treetops 30 In their search for food, giraffes may leave one herd and join another Male giraffes may go off by themselves While their calves are young, mother giraffes stay with a herd The mothers feed each... that the giraffe is descended from long-necked hooved animals that lived millions of years ago Giraffes, like humans, have 7 neck bones But a giraffe s neck is about 6 feet long Its neck bones are big and heavy The giraffe has strong neck muscles to support its neck bones The giraffe s extra large heart pumps blood all the way up to its head Giraffes live in Africa The plains of central and eastern Africa... zookeepers, 12, 21, 28 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Hewett, Joan A giraffe calf grows up / by Joan Hewett ; photographs by Richard Hewett p cm — (Baby animals) Summary: Describes the development of Hobbs, a giraffe living in a wild animal park, from birth to age two years ISBN: 1–57505–775–1 1 Giraffe Infancy—Juvenile literature [1 Giraffe 2 Animals—Infancy I Hewett, Richard, ill II Title... other’s calves The calves spend most of their time playing together More about Wild Animal Parks Hobbs lives in the Six Flags Wild Safari Park in Jackson, New Jersey, with 14 other giraffes During the day, these gawky but graceful animals roam an area of the park called the African Plain The animals are not free But they do have a secure and comfortable home 31 INDEX barn, 12–13 For our grandsons,... calves In a few years, Hobbs will be grown up 29 More about Giraffes The giraffe is the tallest of all the animals that live on the land An adult male giraffe stands between 15 and 18 feet high At 10 years old, he is considered full grown Even so, a giraffe can continue to grow very slowly for most of its life Giraffes have two-toed hooves like deer, sheep, and cows But the giraffe s neck is quite a. .. mother’s milk But he can chew hay too 24 Hobbs chews and swallows hay Later, he brings it up from his stomach He chews and swallows it again 25 GROWING UP TAKES A LONG TIME The giraffes have eaten It is time to rest Adults rest standing up But Hobbs’s legs are not that strong He sits down to rest 26 Getting up is hard work Hobbs is a contented 2-year-old calf He eats treats from a keeper’s hand 28 Hobbs runs... stays by his mother When he is hungry, he drinks his mother’s milk He’s too young to chew hay 15 The park hums with activity People drive by in their cars A giraffe greets a visitor 16 Hobbs is shy He hides behind his mother’s back 17 Adult giraffes graze on leaves from the treetops Hobbs is 3 months old He cannot reach that high 18 The giraffe calf rubs his head on a tree trunk He eats a leaf that’s... legs aren’t wobbly anymore 10 The calf is curious What are the other giraffes doing? He stretches his neck to see 11 It’s almost nighttime The zookeepers open the big barn door All the giraffes enter the barn Hobbs walks in next to his mother 12 The giraffes spend the night in the barn The barn keeps them warm and dry 13 It’s morning The keepers fill the feed bins The grown -up giraffes eat the hay 14... permission of Carolrhoda Books, Inc., except for brief quotations in an acknowledged review giraffe herd, 7, 9, 11–14, 18, 29 This book is available in two editions: Library binding by Carolrhoda Books, Inc., a division of Lerner Publishing Group Soft cover by First Avenue Editions, an imprint of Lerner Publishing Group, 241 First Avenue North Minneapolis, MN 55401 U.S .A legs, 4, 10, 26 Website address:... Ridgely, Jesse Angelo, and Nathan Morris drinking milk, 5, 6, 15, 24 drinking water, 22–23 eating, 14, 18–20, 24–25 Text copyright © 2004 by Joan Hewett Photographs copyright © 2004 by Richard R Hewett All rights reserved International copyright secured No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means— electronic, mechanical, photocopying, . photographs by Richard Hewett A GIRAFFE CALF GROWS UP by Joan Hewett A GIRAFFE CALF GROWS UP by Joan Hewett photographs by Richard Hewett t C AROLRHODA B OOKS, INC./MINNEAPOLIS INA. months old. He cannot reach that high. 18 Adult giraffes graze on leaves from the treetops. The giraf fe calf rubs his head on a tree trunk. He eats a leaf that’s on the ground. 19 . INA WILD ANIMAL PARK Hobbs is a giraf fe calf. He was just born. 2 Hobbs sits up. He feels his mother’s warm tongue. She licks him clean. 3 Hobbs is hungr y. He has to stand up to drink.