It’s my pleasure to add another book to the growing collection of “A Better World of Books.” Today’s feature is brought to you by the self-proclaimed “word wrangler,” Barbara ‘Rhubarb’ Haas and her book for calming emotions illustrated by Mary Ann ‘June Hog’ Kruse, Flustered Without Mustard: Finding Calm When Angry or Frustrated. 
Written in rhyme, using playful verse to appeal to a young audience, Flustered Without Mustard offers pages filled with teachable wisdom for taming volatile emotions in people of all ages.
Haas uses a simple narrative of a hot dog vendor who has not ordered enough mustard to meet the hungry demands of his customers to tell her tale of rhyming mindfulness. Although I think her story could be enhanced by more showing than telling, Haas incorporates the vendor’s predicament into examples of how her readers can reign in their emotional responses to stay calm and level headed. This is where her book shines.
More than a story, Flustered without Mustard is a go-to-guidebook for ways to calm one’s state of mind and move through life’s obstacles with centeredness and ease. Although each tip appears in whimsical meter, much thought and wisdom is held inside of the lines:
“If you’ve let loose, quickly adjust, find your center.
Counting three breaths may help you remember.
You could shake like a dog when you’re really upset,
Or you can sing, or dance, or play clarinet!”
Filled with mindful coping techniques to stay centered and calm, such as the five given in just the four lines of rhyme above, Flustered without Mustard has a place in any classroom or home to be picked up often as a reminder of how easy it is to lose one’s temper and reign it back into a more peaceful state of mind.
Haas’s book, which she self-published just this year, has already received numerous testimonials from educators. The author, herself, has worked in the field of education since the 1970s and offers the arrangement of author’s visits to schools and libraries.
To learn more about Barbara ‘Rhubarb” Haas and her book Flustered without Mustard, you can find her at Rhubarbwisdombooks.com.
Are you an author with a vision for a better world? Do you have a published book of poetry, fiction, or nonfiction that uplifts and empowers readers to create a more positive inner and outer environment? If so, I’d love to hear more about it. On a “Better World of Books,” I interview authors and review books of all genres that offer a vision for a better world. If you think your work is a part of this vision, please contact Alethea.
Tasha Halpert is a practical mystic, poet, and writer. She has been teaching the paths to inner peace and wellbeing for more than five decades. Tasha lives in Massachusetts with her husband and writes a weekly column, “Good Earthkeeping,” for the local newspaper, and a weekly inspirational Internet column, “Heartwings.” She is staff poet and storyteller for The Unicorn.
Although Halpert’s two books are similar in nature, and are in the Self-Help/Inspiration genre, their content is unique. Tasha’s earlier book, Heartwings: Love Notes for a Joyous Life is presented in eight parts, each of which focuses on a topic related to living a mindful and joyous life. Short, relatable poems flow into personal narratives and simple mindfulness exercises for readers to practice, if they choose to.
Neck in Lemons, using lemons as her metaphor for a mindful and joy-filled life. I really enjoyed the layout of this book and the way Tasha wove her more serious pieces between the more whimsical recipes. I found myself looking forward to the recipes and historical anecdotes about lemons. As with her earlier book, Tasha uses her own life as an example to draw upon for life experience. She is both honest and gentle with herself, as she is with her readers.
Annika Perry is an award-winning author, blogger, and book reviewer. She has two books in print and is working on a third. I asked Annika to be a guest for “A Better World of Books” after I learned about the release of her children’s book, Oskar’s Quest. Bette Stevens, a reviewer of the book, had this to say about it, “In this beautifully illustrated children’s book, author Annika Perry captures the importance of caring for others, overcoming fears and making new friends.”
Lisa Erickson is a writer, chakra-based energy worker, and a teacher who specializes in women’s energetics and sexual trauma healing. She is trained in a variety of energy healing modalities, and is certified in mindfulness meditation instruction and trauma sensitivity. Lisa is a member of the International Association of Meditation Instructors, the American Holistic Health Association, the Energy Medicine Practitioners Association, and The Breathe Network, a non-profit dedicated to supporting holistic healing for sexual trauma survivors. She blogs at 
In just over 200 pages of text, Lisa has provided women with an essential toolkit of empowerment and healing. She writes in a manner that is approachable for those not versed in the language of the chakras, while offering a transformational guidebook for women of all ages and walks of life.
Darlene Foster is a writer of children’s stories, a retired employment counsellor, an ESL tutor, a wife, mother and grandmother. Her grandson once gave her the nickname “super-mega-woman-supreme.” Darlene was brought up on a ranch near Medicine Hat, Alberta, where she dreamt of traveling the world and meeting interesting people. Her book series for children follows the heroine Amanda Ross as she travels throughout the world and learns the history and culture of faraway places.
Irene and I met at a 
Andrea Torrey Balsara is an author and illustrator who believes in the goodness in people, especially children. Her stories and art reflect her belief that we are all one, and that no matter where we’ve come from, we’re all linked together. 
Sarah Woodard is an author, podcaster, animal lover & communicator, vegan, Reiki Master Teacher, Certified Shamanic Practitioner, and woman on a mission. Her mission is to create a world in which all beings are respected and honored. To accomplish this, she writes books for kids and adults that encourage connection to self, soul, and the environment, lives an eco-friendly, vegan lifestyle & encourages others to do the same. She offers healing for pets and their people along with book coaching services.
The Light Behind the Story 