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Chef Mario Batali is fired up. So are the kids who are getting a brand new library housed at the Hudson Guild courtesy of the celebrity chef and the Books for Kids Foundation.

Batali teamed up with the foundation, which builds libraries for low income and at-risk children. They also donate books and partner with literacy programs to develop kids' early reading skills, which Batali says are key ingredients to their creativity.

"Reading is of course the beginning, middle and end of all imagination and unlocking that for children to see is one of the great things that we can do,” Batali says. “Plus, there's nothing more exciting than kids who are really interested in what they're hearing.”

Kids were really interested in hearing Batali as he read from a Shel Silverstein poem.

Just like Silverstein's poems make anything possible, Batali reminded the youngsters that reading can certainly take them to magical places.

"It'll make you a football player, it'll make you a CEO or even a lawyer. But you don't have to be a lawyer, don't worry. But what you want to do is learn as much as you can about the world because that's how we connect with the world,” Batali says.

This is the second Books for Kids library that Batali has funded through his foundation and his enthusiasm for books is just as strong as his enthusiasm for cooking.

"Eating a pizza's just like reading a book. You get really happy when you do it. You don't have to read the whole thing or eat the whole thing all at once. Just take a taste every now and then and that's what makes it exciting,” he says.

And like Batali says, you can't just read one page. Devour the book, just as one youngster plans on doing.

"Yeah, I'm gonna read really, really more,” he says.

For more information, check out booksforkids.org.