An interview with Mrs. P from Mrs.P’s Magic Library

About Mrs. P's Magic Library:

Mrs. P's Magic Library is an award-winning free interactive digital storybook destination featuring classic children's stories brought to life by television star Kathy Kinney as Mrs. P. The site was created with the goal of giving kids the wonderful experience of having a trusted, skilled storyteller read them classics of literature. Rather than simply presenting an audiobook, Mrs. P recreates the look and feel of “story time”, a magical ritual many kids might not otherwise get to enjoy.

About Mrs. P:

Kathy Kinney, co-president of Mrs. P Enterprises LLC, was born in Stevens Point, Wisconsin and achieved international fame playing Mimi Bobeck on “The Drew Carey Show” for nine years. (Kathy is the only member of the Mrs P team who has had a doll manufactured in her image.) Before playing Mimi, Kathy had guest starring roles on “Seinfeld” and “Grace Under Fire,” as well as portraying Miss Goddard, the town librarian, on “Newhart.” She also appeared in the films “This Boy’s Life” and “Stanley and Iris,” among others. She currently can be seen in the occasional episode of “My Name Is Earl” and as Bunny on "The Secret Life of the American Teenager." She lives in Los Angeles, enjoys traveling, puttering and books.

Interview with Mrs. P:

* Where did you develop your love for reading?

I owe it all to my mom. Neither of my parents finished high school but my mom was an avid reader. She would take me to the library in the Central Wisconsin town I grew up in, and leave me down in the children's section to look at all the books. I would leave the library after every visit with my arms full of books.

* What are some favorite books from your childhood?

I liked all the books everybody else liked. I read The Hobbit, To Kill a Mockingbird, Our Hearts Were Young and Gay, Cheaper By The Dozen, The boxcar Children and anything in between. I skipped many of the young children's books. I was more interested in different types of books like the Diary of Anne Frank.

* You've been an extremely successful actress for a long time, what was your inspiration for developing Mrs. P's storytime?

Clay Graham, who was an executive producer on the Drew Carey Show and is one of my partners here at Mrs. P, and I were talking one day and he was really worried that parents weren't reading enough to their kids. He had this idea for a series of webisodes featuring this storyteller Mrs. P reading classic children's stories. I loved the idea and really wanted to be a part of this. It's been so much fun and working with Clay and Dana Plautz is the perfect division of work and creativity. It's been such a pleasure to be involved with this partnership.

* Can you tell me about the book you have coming out soon?

The book is called "Mrs. P's Four Favorite Fairy Tales and Funny Stories" and is a collections of the world's best-loved children's stories chosen by the world's best-loved storyteller, Mrs. P. The four stories in the book are: The Frog Prince, Jack and the Beanstalk, Sleeping Beauty and The Emperor's New Clothes.The books has original illustrations from some really wonderful contemporary artists, as well as Mrs. P's hilarious introductions to each story. What's really amazing though is that the book is interactive and can be used by kids to learn reading in conjunction with the free MrsP.com website along with the videos sold at the iTunes Store under Mrs. P Presents.

(note: Mrs. P's Four Favorite Fairy Tales and Funny Stories will be available for online ordering soon. We'll keep you posted...)

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I thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to speak with Mrs. P (Kathy Kinney) as we had a delightful conversation about her work as the world's most famous storyteller. Book Dads is proud to endorse this tremendous resource for parents and teachers, and also proud to lend our support any way we can in Mrs. P's efforts of promoting children's literacy. Keep visiting our site as we promise to bring you the latest news from Mrs. P's Magic Library.