High-resolution Hubble Space Telescope images have allowed us for the first time to resolve the compact SMC ionized ``blob'' N88A (diameter about 3.5 arcseconds or 1 pc). This very young Hii region, which is hatching from its natal molecular cloud, is heavily affected by absorbing dust associated with the cloud. The interstellar reddening in the visual towards N88A is on average about 1.5 mag and strikingly rises to more than 3.5 mag in a narrow dust lane crossing the inner parts of the Hii region from north to south. Such a high extinction is unprecedented for an Hii region in the metal-poor SMC. The lane appears as an undulating yellow feature in the above image. West of the lane lies the brightest part of N88A, a small core of diameter about 0.3 arcsecond (0.08 pc), especially apparent in H-alpha (white spot to the right of the yellow lane in the above image). N88A is clearly ionization-bounded to the north-west since the sharp edge indicates an ionization front in that direction. It is limited to the south-east by the weaker component B. N88B resembles a hollow sphere - a shell - centered on the bright star #55 (see the A&A paper, Sect. 3.4). N88A and N88B are clearly in interaction, as shown by the brightening of the shell between the two regions. We present the photometry of some 60 stars lying towards the OB association at the center of which lies N88A. The candidate exciting star(s) of N88A are very heavily affected by extinction. The chronology of star formation is discussed for the whole region.