Let Catherine know how you use her books in your classroom or library. E-mail her at info@catherinestier.com.

“While the children enjoyed stories about Washington and Lincoln, they really didn’t know what a President was or what a President did,” says Stier, who at the time led a class of 4-year-olds in suburban Chicago. Since she could not find appropriate picture books on this subject, Stier wrote one. Her first book, If I Were President (Albert Whitman & Company), features a multicultural cast of kids and offers a child’s-eye-view of the office of President of the United States.

The book has been praised for its depiction of kids from different backgrounds -- both boys and girls -- imagining themselves in the role of president, and for introducing both the serious and the fun aspects of the job with an informative yet entertaining and child-friendly approach.

If I Were President was named an Honor Book by the Society of School Librarians International and an IRA Los Angeles’ 100 Best Books. Following a review by the White House Historical Association, If I Were President was chosen as featured merchandise at their gift shop. The gift/museum shops of Mount Rushmore and the Smithsonian National Museum of American History have carried the book as well.

The book was featured on the WGN-TV Bozo Show for Presidents’ Day, at the recommendation of the Chicago Public Library.

In 2005, the Chicago Public Schools chose If I Were President for their Literacy Program, with 3500 books distributed to 127 schools.

A companion title, If I Ran For President, was released in 2007. The highly acclaimed book again features children from varied backgrounds, this time depicting what it would be like to run for the highest office in the land.  Following its publication, Stier received an invitation to conduct a book signing event at the Mount Rushmore bookstore during the Independence Day holiday.

In 2008, Stier’s first fictional picture book, Bugs in My Hair?! introduced practically perfect Ellie LaFleur and dealt, in a light-hearted and reassuring way, with the problem of head lice.

Stier has worked as a professional writer for more than 15 years, and has previously published hundreds of works including articles, stories and projects, with more than 25 articles appearing in Woman’s Day. Her work has appeared in several magazines including Woman’s World, Chicago Parent, Highlights for Children, My Friend, Child Life, Children’s Playmate; newspapers including The Chicago Sun-Times, the Daily Herald, The Schaumburg Review, The Elk Grove Times, The Niles Herald Spectator and others; and has been featured in books including Reading and Writing Excellence (Steck-Vaughn Berrent/Harcourt), Playtime Props for Toddlers (Totline Publications) and The Family Travel Guide: An Inspiring Collection of Family-Friendly Vacations (Carousel Press).  The 2008 Children’s Writer’s and Illustrator’s Market (Writer’s Digest Books) features Stier’s essay, “A First-Time Author’s Brush with Fame.”

As a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI), Stier previously co-coordinated a monthly children’s writers and illustrators support group at a local book store and served as contributing editor to the SCBWI-Illinois newsletter, the Prairie Wind. She has taught continuing education writing classes for both children and adults at William Rainey Harper College in Palatine, Illinois and has facilitated a Teen Writing Club at a local library.

In 2008, Stier relocated to Southwest Texas where she now resides with her husband and two children.