Ouch! said Hester Lister, for she had a nasty blister, right on the tippy of her tongue.
She was very unimpressed, and began a loud protest, as to just how much that nippy blister stung!

Hester asks everyone to help her find a remedy for her pesky blister problem, but her journey has an unexpected result! A real 'tongue-twistery' adventure!

Accolades - Shortlisted for PANZ Book Design Awards: Children's Book 2011.
Illustrated by Sarah Neliswe Anderson

The Story Behind the Book

I enjoy writing using different literary devices such as rhyme and rhythm, and alliteration or consonance. If I like a certain rhythm from other stories I've read, I try to replicate that in a story of my own. Rhythm is the 'music' made by the words. Rhythm is when the arrangement of words creates a pattern or beat when read out loud. 'Hester's Blister' rhythm emerged from Margaret Mahy's wonderful 'Baby in a Bubble' story.

I especially had fun with this story using 'consonance' in my rhyming and built the whole story around the 'ist' or 'ista' sound.

'Hester, quite distressed, embarked upon her quest,
to find the perfect blistery solution.
She ran to her big sister, who she hoped would now assist her
with a much more modernistic contribution'.

Alliteration and Consonance

Alliteration is the repetition of consonants at the beginning of a word.

Consonance is a lot like alliteration, except the letters being repeated can be at the beginning, middle, or end of the word.

Here is a short video of how Dr Seuss used consonance in his famous stories

Reviews

Wow what a fantastic story about a common blister of all things! Hester is in search of a remedy for a blister which takes her on a journey to seek a variety of advice which she graciously accepts, great rhyming with a neat twist at the end... read more
Books for Kids Bestsellers

My 5 year old recently got this book, and absolutely loves it. It shows the journey of an independent young lady, with a problem - a blister on the tip of her tongue. She goes to various members of her family, to find remedies for her problem... read more
KIWIreviews

This book was an instant hit with many of the children at kindy. It is delightfully written, has great rhythm and a really fun storyline. There are also lots of wonderful opportunities for the reader to play around with expressions and be quite theatrical. A thoroughly enjoyable book to share... read more
Otago Daily Times

Activities

Colour in and use your imagination writing about who else Hester might go to visit.