Ham: The Astrochimp

by Richard Hilliard

In this information and entertaining book, featuring bold and lively illustrations, Richard Hilliard celebrates the achievement of Ham, the astrochimp and space hero. On January 31, 1961, a three-year-old chimpanzee named Ham made history in the U.S. space program. 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 country's 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, were perfect space pioneers. Ham forged the way into the outer reaches of space so that human astronauts could follow.

Genres: Childrens, Picture Books

32 pages, Hardcover

First published August 1, 2007

Reviews

[Lynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

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 the moon. They were very excited. Ham was a chimpanzee that was sent into space for 20 minutes and came back to Earth. Phew! Even the kids waited with baited breath to see if he came back alive. The book also covers Ham's life afterwards which isn't so pretty but no horrible. He was kept in a small cage at the Washington DC zoo also for years, to see how space had affected him. It turned out that the way he was treated and his solitary life was detrimental to his existence and he was placed in a chimpanzee sanctuary for his last years. The kids loved every second of this book.

[skcocnaH · Rating 4 out of 5]

My 6 year old and I found this pretty fascinating.

[Joy Gerbode · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very simple, but good, story of the chimp who went into space, paving the way for our astronauts to make similar trips. Easy to understand but giving good basic information about the chimp.

[Regina · Rating 4 out of 5]

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 like to see an actual photograph of Ham. I look forward to sharing this book with students.

[Dawn · Rating 3 out of 5]

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.

[Valerie · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.

[Bradley · Rating 4 out of 5]

More like AstroPIMP!

[Tara Zimmerman]

Elementary. Interesting look at a little known point of history with plenty of facts for students interested in finding out more.