University of the Ozarks alumna Robyn (Crow) Wall ’10 of Nashville, Tenn., has published her sixth children’s book, “Candi the Candicorn,” just in time for Halloween.
The book is published by Scholastic and is illustrated by Joelle Murray. The story follows a “treat-loving, magical autumn unicorn who is shunned by a trick-loving Halloween monster town.”
“Her dysregulation in the face of rejection leads to revenge of mythical and comical proportions—and ultimately reconciliation,” Crow said.
Crow will take part in numerous Scholastic book fairs this fall.
“I cannot express the deep, nostalgic, full-circle feelings that came with learning I’ll be in Scholastic book fairs this fall.”
Crow, who lived in New York City for just over a decade before moving back to her home state of Tennessee recently, made her author debut in 2022 with two board books — “My First Book of Tattoos” and “My First Book of Beards” — as part of her My Cool Family series with Random House.
Since then, she has published two more books in the My Cool Family series — “My First Book of Coffee” and “My First Book of Travel.”
Her fifth book, “I Worked Hard on That!” was her first stand-alone book and was released in 2024by Simon & Schuster. That book is an exploration of the creative journey and the friends you make along the way.
“It’s the story of Kiara the spider, who attempts to create a web masterpiece only to be repeatedly thwarted by other creatures, including a friend who eats her artwork,” Crow said. “It’s great for makers of all ages and kids who have big feelings about letting go of temporary art—whether their sibling destroyed a block creation or they have to put their Play Doh sculpture back in the can.”
Crow said her experiences at Ozarks “helped me develop an ear for the rhythm of poetry and an appreciation of good craftsmanship—both the nuts and bolts of writing as well as noticing when an artist sweeps you away with connection and conveys truth of the world around us. While sitting in Lyric Poetry in 2007, I had no idea that five of my six future books would be in verse or that I’d publish a book full of trochees.”
She said she still uses lessons taught by her professors at Ozarks and through her involvement in the University’s Project Poet competition.
“Certain experiences prepared me to work within the world of modern picture books, where full character and story development usually happens in under 500 words,” she said. “I remember a class where Dr. Elissa Heil assigned us small passages to read so that we could fully sit and appreciate literature that sang on a line-by-line level. And I believe it was Dr. David Strain who referred to poetry as an ‘economy of language.’ That stuck with me, and it’s where I live now. Project Poetry also helped me learn to be creative on a deadline and explore different poetic forms. Dr. Kendrick Prewitt’s Southern Literature class prepared me to appreciate what an honor it is to be a part of the Southern artist community.”
This fall, Crow will be a featured author at the Mississippi Book Festival (Jackson, MS 9/26), the Southern Festival of Books (Nashville, TN 10/17), Louisville Book Festival (Louisville, KY 10/24), and Kentucky Book Festival (Lexington, KY Nov. 7). She invites any U of O alumni living in those areas to come by and visit her.
People can also connect with her by following @RobynJWall on Instagram or checking out her website, website RobynJWall.com.
(Photo Courtesy of Kathy Thomas Photography)
Topics: Alumni Stories