Ham the Astrochimp

Name: Ham the Astrochimp
Brand: Recorded Books
Availability: InStock
Author: Richard Hilliard
ISBN: 9781490608242

Author: Richard Hilliard

Narrator: Jodi Dick, Brian David

Unabridged: 15 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Recorded Books

Published: 11/15/2013

Categories: Children's Fiction

Synopsis

On January 31, 1961, a three-year-old chimpanzee named Ham made history. Strapped inside a Mercury capsule, the little chimp blasted off into the sky, becoming the first intelligent being to ride an American rocket into suborbital space. Ham made a vital contribution to the United States space program. Because there were so many unanswered questions about space travel, scientists could not risk sending humans on a journey into the unknown. Chimpanzees, however, are very similar to humans in the makeup of their skeletons and internal organs. That made them the perfect space pioneers. Ham forged the way into the outer reaches of space so that human astronauts could follow. In this informative and entertaining book, featuring bold and lively illustrations, Richard Hilliard celebrates the achievement of Ham, the astrochimp and space hero.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Lynn

This is a children's picture book about Ham, the first chimpanzee in space. I read this book to a group of third graders after giving a brief overview on space words and concepts that they know and what is important about this summer - It is the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11 landing astronauts on th......more

Goodreads review by skcocnaH

My 6 year old and I found this pretty fascinating.......more

Goodreads review by Regina

I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this book. I learned a lot about the early space program and why NASA first launched a chimpanzee into space. Kids will enjoy discovering that Ham was first named Chang, but then renamed Ham after Holloman Air Medical Center. Beautiful illustrations, but I'd lik......more

Goodreads review by Dawn

This non-fiction picture book has a lot of factual text in the margins describing the details of "Ham's" trip into outer space. A great book for advancing readers who are interested in both animals and astronauts.......more

Goodreads review by Valerie

My first graders studying space loved the story of Ham. They could really see how important his mission was, but the best part was the connections they made to the training astronauts went through in Astronauts' Handbook, which we read in class the week before.......more