MrsP.com is a free children's entertainment website. It stars actress Kathy Kinney as Mrs. P, a redheaded Irishwoman who reads classic children's stories from her "Magic Library." The target audience for the website is kids between the ages of 3-12, and its goal is to "encourage a lifetime love of reading." It has no advertising and no subscription fees. The site is produced by Mrs P Enterprises, LLC and was created by Kinney, who played Mimi on '' The Drew Carey Show'', TV writer and producer

Clay Graham Clay Graham (born May 5, 1959) is an American comedy writer, television producer and website creator, best known for his work on ''The Drew Carey Show'' and the Netflix series ''Santa Clarita Diet''. Early years Born in Phoenix, Arizona, Gra ...

, and former entertainment and New Media executive Dana Plautz.

Content

The primary content offered on MrsP.com is a library of

streaming video Video on demand (VOD) is a media distribution system that allows users to access videos without a traditional video playback device and the constraints of a typical static broadcasting schedule. In the 20th century, broadcasting in the form of o ...

episodes. The episodes range in length from 5–30 minutes and feature the Mrs. P character seated near a fire in her "Magic Library." She offers a short, often humorous introduction, usually based on one of her youthful adventures and related in some way to the story she is about to read. She then reads the story directly to the camera. The videos include illustrations or photographs, but focus primarily on the emotive performances of the storyteller "in the hope that viewers will use their imaginations."

Susan Carpenter Susan Carpenter is co-host of The Ride, a series about modern mobility on the Southern California Public Radio Station, KPCC-FM. In broadcast radio segments and a weekly podcast, she reports on everything from autonomous cars and ride sharing t ...

, "Mrs. P has a story for you, kids" http://www.latimes.com/technology/la-et-mrs-p10-2008nov10,1,2661628.story Los Angeles Times, 2008-11-10. Stories read by Mrs. P on the website include ''

Jack and the Beanstalk "Jack and the Beanstalk" is an English fairy tale. It appeared as "The Story of Jack Spriggins and the Enchanted Bean" in 1734 4th edition On Commons and as Benjamin Tabart's moralized "The History of Jack and the Bean-Stalk" in 1807. Henry Cole ...

'', ''

Little Red Riding Hood "Little Red Riding Hood" is a European fairy tale about a young girl and a sly wolf. Its origins can be traced back to several pre-17th century European folk tales. The two best known versions were written by Charles Perrault and the Brother ...

'', '' The Tale of Peter Rabbit'' and '' Sleeping Beauty''. New stories are added every few weeks. The site also features an animated game in which a stuffed dog, Spyri, comes to life, as well as a "window" in which various visitors appear, including actor Robert Blanche (''

World Trade Center World Trade Centers are sites recognized by the World Trade Centers Association. World Trade Center may refer to: Buildings * List of World Trade Centers * World Trade Center (2001–present), a building complex that includes five skyscrapers, a ...

'', ''

Ghost Whisperer ''Ghost Whisperer'' is an American supernatural television series, which ran on CBS from September 23, 2005, to May 21, 2010. The series follows the life of Melinda Gordon ( Jennifer Love Hewitt), who has the ability to see and communicate with ...

'') as a singing policeman trying to woo Mrs. P.

History

Development of MrsP.com began in April 2007, when

, who had been the head writer and an executive producer of '' The Drew Carey Show'', first had the idea of creating a "storytelling" website. Dana Plautz, who had been a marketing executive at

Hanna-Barbera Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc. ( ) was an American animation studio and production company which was active from 1957 to 2001. It was founded on July 7, 1957, by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera following the decision of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to c ...

, joined soon after as a partner and co-president, and they approached Kathy Kinney, who was their "first -- and only -- choice" to play Mrs. P. Kinney also is co-president and co-creator of the website. The site launched at midnight on November 10, 2008. Its production offices are in

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

and

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

Powell's Books Powell's Books is a chain of bookstores in Portland, Oregon, and its surrounding metropolitan area. Powell's headquarters, dubbed Powell's City of Books, claims to be the largest independent new and used bookstore in the world. Powell's City of ...

, the world's largest

independent bookstore An independent bookstore is a retail bookstore which is independently owned. Usually, independent stores consist of only a single actual store (although there are some multi-store independents). They may be structured as sole proprietorships, cl ...

, supports the site with a "Mrs. P Aisle" on its website
www.powells.com
and with other promotional activities. Mrs. P made her first national TV appearance on Dec. 6, 2008 in a live broadcast from the Manhattan FAO Schwarz Toy Store for the CBS ''

Early Show ''The Early Show'' is an American morning television show that aired on CBS from November 1, 1999 to January 7, 2012, and the ninth attempt at a morning news-talk program by the network since 1954. The program aired Monday through Friday from ...

''. She recommended her favorite children's books for the holiday season and read ''

The Princess and the Pea "The Princess and the Pea" ( da, "Prinsessen paa Ærten"; direct translation: "The Princess on the Pea") is a literary fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen about a young woman whose royal ancestry is established by a test of her sensitivity. ...

'' to an audience of children. On December 9, 2008, MrsP.com began offering videos from its library for purchase and download on the

iTunes Store The iTunes Store is a digital media store operated by Apple Inc. It opened on April 28, 2003, as a result of Steve Jobs' push to open a digital marketplace for music. As of April 2020, iTunes offered 60 million songs, 2.2 million apps, 25,00 ...

. Ten percent of all MrsP.com's after-tax profits will be donated by Mrs P Enterprises, LLC to literacy organizations. Mrs. P made an appearance at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, the nation's largest book fair, on April 25, 2009. She read to a crowd of several hundred children and parents from the Target-sponsored Children's Stage. On April 27, 2009, MrsP.com won the National Parenting Center Seal of Approval. In its review, the Center called the website "beautifully conceived" and "beautifully rendered," adding that "the site felt extremely genuine in its desire to help children develop a love of reading and did so by creating a fun environment for them" in which to be read to. TeachersFirst.com, a website resource "by teacher, for teachers" reviewed MrsP.com in May, 2009, stating "You almost want to toast marshmallows on the open fire as you cyber-curl under Mrs. P's feet by the fireplace." The teacher's website also said MrsP.com "will thrill your eager readers for hours" - although warning "do not even try this one on a slow connection." On May 27, 2009, MrsP.com was chosen by the American Library Association as one of its "Great Web Sites for Kids." American Library Association website
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References

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External links

Mrs. P's Magic Library
American entertainment websites American children's websites