Dawn Cusick is the author of Animal Eggs, Bug Butts, and Get the Scoop on Animal Poop, among many other titles aimed at young activists, reluctant readers, and animal lovers. Her books have been named a Best Children’s Book of the Year by Bank Street College of Education, an Outstanding Science Trade Book by the National Science Teaching Association, a Children’s Choice Book Award finalist by the Children’s Book Council, and more. She lives in Clyde, North Carolina, in the Blue Ridge Mountains, where she teaches general biology and zoology courses at Haywood Community College.

Praise for THE ASTROCHIMPS:

“With engaging narrative style and boundless sensitivity, Dawn Cusick introduces the astrochimps, America’s first astronauts. A must-read for space race fans, future scientists, or anyone who has ever loved an animal.”—Amy Cherrix, author of In the Shadow of the Moon

“Astronauts Alan Shepard and John Glenn are celebrated today as American heroes, but it was Ham and Enos—the astrochimps—who rocketed into space before their human counterparts. Author Dawn Cusick tells the seldom-told story of these and other history-making primates who helped the United States win the space race. It’s a blast!”—Jerome Pohlen, author of The Apollo Missions for Kids