Rachel Fister's Blister Hornbook Fanfare (Best of 1990) Ages: 2 - 7 Houghton Mifflin ISBN 0-395-52152-1 ISBN 0-395-65744-X (paper) ISBN 0-395-77978-2 (audio cassette) To order from your local independent book store (which is a GOOD thing!), click here. To order from Amazon, click here.

What's it about? When Rachel discovers a blister on her little toe, she makes the mistake of telling her mother about it. "Don't alarm her! Bring the farmer!" cries her mother. "Call the doctor, call the nurse! We need help to fix the blister - Now! Before it gets much worse!" In her panic, Rachel's mother calls everyone from the fireman to the priest - and everyone has a different idea how to cure the tiny blister. But nothing works until they consult Queen Alice for advice.

Where did the idea come from? When my own daughter Emily was little, she was the kind of child (unlike all of you, I'm sure) who cried at the slightest scratch. And I was the kind of mother who never gave her much sympathy. My usual reaction to her tears was to say something like, "You'll live, I'm sure." So our household was the exact opposite of Rachel Fister's (where Rachel is calm, and the mother is the one who panics.) I wrote Rachel Fister's Blister as a little joke, a way of telling Emily, "I'm sorry for being so unkind all those times when you had a boo-boo." That's why it is dedicated to her!

Anything else? I originally thought this book would be called "The Queen Should Know." It was going to be about a smart queen who solved everyone's problems. (Just like the Wise Lady in The Peterkin Papers, as one reviewer - and my own son—pointed out!)

What some reviwers have said: "Guaranteed to produce giggles in all listeners." (Hornbook) "The book's infectious rhythm and rhyme demand that it be read aloud. ...[Readers] will delight in its high spirits." (School Library Journal) A "sparkling tale." (Publishers Weekly)

Classroom Activities to accompany Rachel Fister's Blister.