diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index bb99a7de..da2282c9 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -361,7 +361,7 @@ updateModel SayHelloWorld m = m <# do
 viewModel :: Model -> View Action
 viewModel x = div_ [] [
    button_ [ onClick AddOne ] [ text "+" ]
- , text (show x)
+ , text $ toMisoString (show x)
  , button_ [ onClick SubtractOne ] [ text "-" ]
  ]
 ```
diff --git a/examples/compose-update/Main.hs b/examples/compose-update/Main.hs
index 701a62fc..27981cfa 100644
--- a/examples/compose-update/Main.hs
+++ b/examples/compose-update/Main.hs
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 {-# LANGUAGE RankNTypes #-}
 {-# LANGUAGE RecordWildCards #-}
 {-# LANGUAGE TupleSections #-}
+{-# LANGUAGE OverloadedStrings #-}
 module Main where
 
 -- This example demonstrates how you can split your update function
@@ -13,6 +14,7 @@ import Data.Monoid
 
 import Miso
 import Miso.Lens
+import Miso.String
 
 -- In this slightly contrived example, our model consists of two
 -- counters. When one of those counters is incremented, the other is
@@ -100,6 +102,6 @@ viewModel (x, y) =
   div_
     []
     [ button_ [onClick Increment] [text "+"]
-    , text (show x <> " | " <> show y)
+    , text (ms (show x) <> " | " <> ms (show y))
     , button_ [onClick Decrement] [text "-"]
     ]
diff --git a/examples/haskell-miso.org/shared/Common.hs b/examples/haskell-miso.org/shared/Common.hs
index 8e5287fa..4956977d 100644
--- a/examples/haskell-miso.org/shared/Common.hs
+++ b/examples/haskell-miso.org/shared/Common.hs
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 {-# LANGUAGE RecordWildCards      #-}
+{-# LANGUAGE OverloadedStrings    #-}
 {-# LANGUAGE TypeFamilies         #-}
 {-# LANGUAGE TypeOperators        #-}
 {-# LANGUAGE DataKinds            #-}
@@ -346,20 +347,20 @@ starMiso :: View action
 starMiso = a_ [
     class_ (pack "github-button")
   , href_ (pack "https://github.com/dmjio/miso")
-  , prop (pack "data-icon") "octicon-star"
-  , prop (pack "data-size") "large"
-  , prop (pack "data-show-count") "true"
-  , prop (pack "aria-label") "Star dmjio/miso on GitHub"
+  , textProp (pack "data-icon") "octicon-star"
+  , textProp (pack "data-size") "large"
+  , textProp (pack "data-show-count") "true"
+  , textProp (pack "aria-label") "Star dmjio/miso on GitHub"
   ] [ text "Star" ]
 
 forkMiso :: View action
 forkMiso = a_ [
     class_ (pack "github-button")
   , href_ (pack "https://github.com/dmjio/miso/fork")
-  , prop (pack "data-icon") "octicon-repo-forked"
-  , prop (pack "data-size") "large"
-  , prop (pack "data-show-count") "true"
-  , prop (pack "aria-label") "Fork dmjio/miso on GitHub"
+  , textProp (pack "data-icon") "octicon-repo-forked"
+  , textProp (pack "data-size") "large"
+  , textProp (pack "data-show-count") "true"
+  , textProp (pack "aria-label") "Fork dmjio/miso on GitHub"
   ] [ text "Fork" ]
 
 -- | Hero
@@ -455,7 +456,7 @@ newNav =
                  ]
                ]
             , div_ [ class_$pack  "navbar-burger burger"
-                   , prop (pack "data-target") (pack "navMenuIndex")] [
+                   , textProp (pack "data-target") (pack "navMenuIndex")] [
                  span_ [] [ ]
                 ,span_ [] [ ]
                 ,span_ [] [ ]
@@ -518,7 +519,7 @@ newNav =
                             ]
                       , div_ [id_ $pack"blogDropdown"
                              ,class_$pack  "navbar-dropdown is-boxed"
-                             ,prop (pack "data-style_") (pack "width: 18rem;")] [
+                             ,textProp (pack "data-style_") (pack "width: 18rem;")] [
                           a_ [class_$pack  "navbar-item"
                              ,href_$pack "/2017/07/24/access-previous-bulma-versions/"] [
                              div_ [class_$pack  "navbar-content"] [
@@ -629,9 +630,9 @@ newNav =
                                p_ [class_$pack  "control"] [
                                  a_ [ id_ $pack"twitter"
                                     , class_$pack  "button"
-                                    , prop (pack "data-social-network_") (pack "Twitter")
-                                    , prop (pack "data-social-action_") (pack "tweet")
-                                    , prop (pack "data-social-target") (pack "http://bulma.io")
+                                    , textProp (pack "data-social-network_") (pack "Twitter")
+                                    , textProp (pack "data-social-action_") (pack "tweet")
+                                    , textProp (pack "data-social-target") (pack "http://bulma.io")
                                     ,target_$pack "_blank"
                                     , href_$pack "https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=Miso: a tasty Haskell front-end framework&url=https://haskell-miso.org&via=dmjio"] [
                                      span_ [class_$pack  "icon"] [
diff --git a/examples/router/Main.hs b/examples/router/Main.hs
index ca8f62fc..22b078ca 100644
--- a/examples/router/Main.hs
+++ b/examples/router/Main.hs
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 {-# LANGUAGE ScopedTypeVariables #-}
+{-# LANGUAGE OverloadedStrings #-}
 {-# LANGUAGE TypeOperators #-}
 {-# LANGUAGE DataKinds #-}
 {-# LANGUAGE RecordWildCards #-}
diff --git a/examples/sse/shared/Common.hs b/examples/sse/shared/Common.hs
index 1e92d755..f836cda5 100644
--- a/examples/sse/shared/Common.hs
+++ b/examples/sse/shared/Common.hs
@@ -1,9 +1,11 @@
+{-# LANGUAGE OverloadedStrings #-}
 module Common where
 
 import Data.Proxy
 import Servant.API
 
 import Miso
+import Miso.String
 
 data Model = Model { modelUri :: URI,  modelMsg :: String }
   deriving (Show, Eq)
@@ -17,7 +19,7 @@ data Action
 
 home :: Model -> View Action
 home (Model _ msg) =
-  div_ [] [div_ [] [h3_ [] [text ("SSE (Server-sent events) Example" :: String)]], text msg]
+  div_ [] [div_ [] [h3_ [] [text "SSE (Server-sent events) Example"]], text $ ms msg]
 
 -- There is only a single route in this example
 type ClientRoutes = Home
@@ -31,7 +33,7 @@ the404 :: View Action
 the404 =
   div_
     []
-    [ text ("404: Page not found")
+    [ text "404: Page not found"
     , a_ [onClick $ ChangeURI goHome] [text " - Go Home"]
     ]
 
diff --git a/exe/Main.hs b/exe/Main.hs
index 8b57beb3..5dac8e4b 100644
--- a/exe/Main.hs
+++ b/exe/Main.hs
@@ -1,7 +1,9 @@
+{-# LANGUAGE OverloadedStrings #-}
 {-# LANGUAGE RecordWildCards #-}
 module Main where
 
 import Miso
+import Miso.String
 
 type Model = Int
 
@@ -31,6 +33,7 @@ data Action
 viewModel :: Int -> View Action
 viewModel x = div_ [] [
    button_ [ onClick AddOne ] [ text "+" ]
- , text (show x)
+ , text $ ms (show x)
  , button_ [ onClick SubtractOne ] [ text "-" ]
  ]
+
diff --git a/ghc-src/Miso/Html/Internal.hs b/ghc-src/Miso/Html/Internal.hs
index fd6057b2..7a09e0a9 100644
--- a/ghc-src/Miso/Html/Internal.hs
+++ b/ghc-src/Miso/Html/Internal.hs
@@ -132,8 +132,8 @@ node vNs vType vKey as xs =
   in View VNode {..}
 
 -- | `VText` creation
-text :: ToMisoString str => str -> View action
-text x = View $ VText (toMisoString x)
+text :: MisoString -> View action
+text = View . VText
 
 -- | Key for specific children patch
 newtype Key = Key MisoString
diff --git a/ghc-src/Miso/String.hs b/ghc-src/Miso/String.hs
index e00f6672..aa7c2ae9 100644
--- a/ghc-src/Miso/String.hs
+++ b/ghc-src/Miso/String.hs
@@ -13,12 +13,14 @@
 module Miso.String
   ( ToMisoString (..)
   , MisoString
+  , module Data.Monoid
   , module Data.Text
+  , ms
   ) where
 
-import           Data.Aeson
 import qualified Data.ByteString         as B
 import qualified Data.ByteString.Lazy    as BL
+import           Data.Monoid
 import           Data.Text
 import qualified Data.Text               as T
 import qualified Data.Text.Encoding      as T
@@ -29,10 +31,15 @@ import qualified Data.Text.Lazy.Encoding as LT
 type MisoString = Text
 
 -- | Convenience class for creating `MisoString` from other string-like types
-class ToMisoString str where toMisoString :: str -> MisoString
+class ToMisoString str where
+  toMisoString :: str -> MisoString
+
+-- | Convenience function, shorthand for `toMisoString`
+ms :: ToMisoString str => str -> MisoString
+ms = toMisoString
+
 instance ToMisoString MisoString where toMisoString = id
 instance ToMisoString String where toMisoString = T.pack
 instance ToMisoString LT.Text where toMisoString = LT.toStrict
 instance ToMisoString B.ByteString where toMisoString = toMisoString . T.decodeUtf8
 instance ToMisoString BL.ByteString where toMisoString = toMisoString . LT.decodeUtf8
-instance ToMisoString Value where toMisoString = toMisoString . encode
diff --git a/ghcjs-src/Miso/Html/Internal.hs b/ghcjs-src/Miso/Html/Internal.hs
index cdd8a14e..a83b9507 100644
--- a/ghcjs-src/Miso/Html/Internal.hs
+++ b/ghcjs-src/Miso/Html/Internal.hs
@@ -142,11 +142,11 @@ data NS
   deriving (Show, Eq)
 
 -- | `VText` creation
-text :: ToMisoString str => str -> View m
+text :: MisoString -> View m
 text t = View . const $ do
   vtree <- create
   set "type" ("vtext" :: JSString) vtree
-  set "text" (toMisoString t) vtree
+  set "text" t vtree
   pure $ VTree vtree
 
 -- | For use with child reconciliaton algorithm
diff --git a/ghcjs-src/Miso/String.hs b/ghcjs-src/Miso/String.hs
index 4d2c913c..d10cee42 100644
--- a/ghcjs-src/Miso/String.hs
+++ b/ghcjs-src/Miso/String.hs
@@ -14,9 +14,11 @@
 -- Portability :  non-portable
 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 module Miso.String (
-    MisoString
+    ToMisoString (..)
+  , MisoString
   , module Data.JSString
-  , ToMisoString (..)
+  , module Data.Monoid
+  , ms
   ) where
 
 import           Data.Aeson
@@ -24,6 +26,7 @@ import qualified Data.ByteString         as B
 import qualified Data.ByteString.Lazy    as BL
 import           Data.JSString
 import           Data.JSString.Text
+import           Data.Monoid
 import qualified Data.Text               as T
 import qualified Data.Text.Encoding      as T
 import qualified Data.Text.Lazy          as LT
@@ -46,10 +49,13 @@ instance FromJSON MisoString where
 class ToMisoString str where
   toMisoString :: str -> MisoString
 
+-- | Convenience function, shorthand for `toMisoString`
+ms :: ToMisoString str => str -> MisoString
+ms = toMisoString
+
 instance ToMisoString MisoString where toMisoString = id
 instance ToMisoString String where toMisoString = pack
 instance ToMisoString T.Text where toMisoString = textToJSString
 instance ToMisoString LT.Text where toMisoString = lazyTextToJSString
 instance ToMisoString B.ByteString where toMisoString = toMisoString . T.decodeUtf8
 instance ToMisoString BL.ByteString where toMisoString = toMisoString . LT.decodeUtf8
-instance ToMisoString Value where toMisoString = toMisoString . encode