Ham the Astrochimp

Title: Ham the Astrochimp
Author: Richard Hilliard
Publisher: Boyds Mills Press
Copyright: 2007 by Richard Hilliard
Pages: 32
Ages: 4-8
Genre: Non-fiction

Summary:
A chimp named Chang, born in Africa was chosen to be part of the space program. He was renamed Ham in honor of the Holloman Air Medical Center where he was trained. Ham was one of the brightest chimps and had a great personality. Ham was being trained to go into space in order to test whether it was safe for humans. On January 31, 1961 Ham was strapped into a rocket and when it was ready Ham was blasted into space. Blinking lights told Ham which levers to pull and with every right choice he was rewarded with a treat. A problem arose and Ham was in space longer than planned, so him capsule didn’t land where it ought. The capsule started to take on water and it took nearly 3 hours to rescue Ham. Ham was unharmed and became a celebrity. He was monitored for many years in seclusion and this had ill effect. He was lonely. So he was moved to the zoo where he could interact with other chimps. Ham is buried at the International Space Hall if Fame in Alamogordo, New Mexico.

Who would I recommend this to?
I would recommend this book to people who love animal books, or books about space. Especially if they like books about the space race.

Possible problems:
This book could cause problems with families who have strong views about animal cruelty.

My reaction:
I was honestly angry throughout the book. I am very much against using animals as test subjects and was unhappy about how Ham was treated. It made me think of all the other animals who have been harmed in the name of science.