Emotional Wellness Is Theme of First Children’s Book by Oneonta Native

By MONICA CALZOLARI
ONEONTA

Haabiba Rothenberg-Whitney, a 1992 graduate of Oneonta High School, has written and illustrated her first children’s book and her first coloring book. Both are titled “Tell Me About Your Happy Place.”

Rothenberg-Whitney said, “This was a unique collaboration. I was asked to write the book as a fundraiser for the Springfield Garden Club.”

The garden club hosted its first-ever Magical Fairy Garden Tour, May 18-27, at the home of Vana Nespor in Springfield, Massachusetts.

Nespor and Rothenberg-Whitney are neighbors who have known each other for seven years. Nespor owned and operated a publishing company with several partners in the past. She had the idea of creating a book with photographs of the beautiful miniature habitats to sell at the garden club event.