diff --git a/stdlib/ktSrc/dom/Dom.kt b/stdlib/ktSrc/dom/Dom.kt
index 268d58d4a2a..669678cf825 100644
--- a/stdlib/ktSrc/dom/Dom.kt
+++ b/stdlib/ktSrc/dom/Dom.kt
@@ -1,11 +1,57 @@
 package std.dom
 
 import std.*
+import std.util.*
+import java.util.*
 import org.w3c.dom.*
 
 
 // Properties
 
+val Document?.rootElement : Element?
+get() = if (this != null) this.getDocumentElement() else null
+
+
+var Node.text : String
+get() {
+    if (this is Element) {
+        return this.text
+    } else {
+        return this.getNodeValue() ?: ""
+    }
+}
+set(value) {
+    if (this is Element) {
+        this.text = value
+    } else {
+        this.setNodeValue(value)
+    }
+}
+
+var Element.text : String
+get() {
+    val buffer = StringBuilder()
+    val nodeList = this.getChildNodes()
+    if (nodeList != null) {
+        var i = 0
+        val size = nodeList.getLength()
+        while (i < size) {
+            val node = nodeList.item(i)
+            if (node != null) {
+                if (node.getNodeType() == Node.TEXT_NODE || node.getNodeType() == Node.CDATA_SECTION_NODE) {
+                    buffer.append(node.getNodeValue())
+                }
+            }
+            i++
+        }
+    }
+    return buffer.toString().sure()
+}
+set(value) {
+    // lets remove all the previous text nodes first
+    this.setAttribute("id", value)
+}
+
 var Element.id : String
 get() = this.getAttribute("id")?: ""
 set(value) {
@@ -25,6 +71,104 @@ set(value) {
     this.setAttribute("class", value)
 }
 
+
+// Helper methods
+
+inline fun Element?.children(): List<Node> {
+    return this?.getChildNodes().toList()
+}
+
+inline fun Element?.elementsByTagName(name: String?): List<Element> {
+    return this?.getElementsByTagName(name).toElementList()
+}
+
+inline fun Element?.elementsByTagNameNS(namespaceUri: String?, localName: String?): List<Element> {
+    return this?.getElementsByTagNameNS(namespaceUri, localName).toElementList()
+}
+
+inline fun Document?.elementsByTagName(name: String?): List<Element> {
+    return this?.getElementsByTagName(name).toElementList()
+}
+
+inline fun Document?.elementsByTagNameNS(namespaceUri: String?, localName: String?): List<Element> {
+    return this?.getElementsByTagNameNS(namespaceUri, localName).toElementList()
+}
+
+val NodeList?.head : Node?
+get() = if (this != null && this.getLength() > 0) this.item(0) else null
+
+val NodeList?.first : Node?
+get() = this.head
+
+val NodeList?.tail : Node?
+get() {
+    if (this == null) {
+        return null
+    } else {
+        val s = this.getLength()
+        return if (s > 0) this.item(s - 1) else null
+    }
+}
+
+val NodeList?.last : Node?
+get() = this.tail
+
+
+inline fun NodeList?.toList(): List<Node> {
+    return if (this == null) {
+        Collections.EMPTY_LIST as List<Node>
+    }
+    else {
+        NodeListAsList(this)
+    }
+}
+
+inline fun NodeList?.toElementList(): List<Element> {
+    return if (this == null) {
+        Collections.EMPTY_LIST as List<Element>
+    }
+    else {
+        ElementListAsList(this)
+    }
+}
+
+fun NodeList?.toXmlString(xmlDeclaration: Boolean = false): String {
+    return if (this == null)
+        "" else {
+        this.toList().toXmlString(xmlDeclaration)
+    }
+}
+
+class NodeListAsList(val nodeList: NodeList): AbstractList<Node>() {
+    override fun get(index: Int): Node {
+        val node = nodeList.item(index)
+        if (node == null) {
+            throw IndexOutOfBoundsException("NodeList does not contain a node at index: " + index)
+        } else {
+            return node
+        }
+    }
+
+    override fun size(): Int = nodeList.getLength()
+}
+
+class ElementListAsList(val nodeList: NodeList): AbstractList<Element>() {
+    override fun get(index: Int): Element {
+        val node = nodeList.item(index)
+        if (node is Element) {
+            return node
+        } else {
+            if (node == null) {
+                throw IndexOutOfBoundsException("NodeList does not contain a node at index: " + index)
+            } else {
+                throw IllegalArgumentException("Node is not an Element as expected but is $node")
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    override fun size(): Int = nodeList.getLength()
+
+}
 // Syntax sugar
 
 inline fun Node.plus(child: Node?): Node {
diff --git a/stdlib/ktSrc/dom/DomJVM.kt b/stdlib/ktSrc/dom/DomJVM.kt
index f281b56f358..93d01af2bfe 100644
--- a/stdlib/ktSrc/dom/DomJVM.kt
+++ b/stdlib/ktSrc/dom/DomJVM.kt
@@ -14,6 +14,9 @@ import javax.xml.transform.stream.StreamResult
 
 import java.io.StringWriter
 import javax.xml.transform.OutputKeys
+import java.lang.Iterable
+import java.util.List
+import java.util.Collection
 
 fun createDocument(builder: DocumentBuilder): Document {
     return builder.newDocument().sure()
@@ -36,6 +39,17 @@ fun Node.toXmlString(xmlDeclaration: Boolean = this is Document): String {
     return nodeToXmlString(this, xmlDeclaration)
 }
 
+fun java.lang.Iterable<Node>.toXmlString(xmlDeclaration: Boolean = false): String {
+    // TODO this should work...
+    // return this.map<Node,String>{it.toXmlString()}.join("")
+    val builder = StringBuilder()
+    for (n in this) {
+        builder.append(n.toXmlString(xmlDeclaration))
+    }
+    return builder.toString().sure()
+}
+
+
 /*
 fun Document.toXmlString(xmlDeclaration: Boolean = true): String {
     return nodeToXmlString(this, xmlDeclaration)
diff --git a/testlib/test/dom/DomBuilderTest.kt b/testlib/test/dom/DomBuilderTest.kt
index fb4cd426671..dea799d0dae 100644
--- a/testlib/test/dom/DomBuilderTest.kt
+++ b/testlib/test/dom/DomBuilderTest.kt
@@ -2,12 +2,13 @@ package test.dom
 
 import std.*
 import std.dom.*
+import std.util.*
 import stdhack.test.*
 import org.w3c.dom.*
 
 class DomBuilderTest() : TestSupport() {
 
-    fun testBuildDocumnet() {
+    fun testBuildDocument() {
         var doc = createDocument()
 
         doc.addElement("foo") {
@@ -19,11 +20,24 @@ class DomBuilderTest() : TestSupport() {
                 addElement("grandChild") {
                     cssClass = "tiny"
                     addText("Hello World!")
-                    // TODO support neater syntax sugar for adding text?
-                    // += "Hello World!"
+                // TODO support neater syntax sugar for adding text?
+                // += "Hello World!"
                 }
             }
         }
         println("builder document: ${doc.toXmlString()}")
+
+
+        val grandChild = doc.elementsByTagName("grandChild").first
+        if (grandChild != null) {
+            println("got element ${grandChild.toXmlString()} with text '${grandChild.text}`")
+            assertEquals("Hello World!", grandChild.text)
+        } else {
+            fail("Not an Element $grandChild")
+        }
+        val children = doc.rootElement.children()
+        val xml = children.toXmlString()
+        println("root element has children: ${xml}")
+        assertEquals(1, children.size())
     }
 }