VIDEO: Malcolm Mitchell Shares His Love Of Reading With "The Magicians Hat"

New England Patriots wide receiver Malcolm Mitchell sat down with CNN this past weekend to discuss one of his favorite passions after football.

Mitchell, when he’s not catching key passes during a 25 point Super Bowl comeback, is also an accomplished book author, having wrote his first book at 19 years old when he attended the University of Georgia.

The book, entitled “The Magicians Hat,” was written with the inspiration of young children in mind, who may be struggling to learn how to read. The first version of “The Magicians Hat” was complete and hit shelves in 2016 before the NFL Draft and since that time Mitchell has become a vocal advocate for promoting child literacy and easy access to books during his time with the Patriots.

Speaking with the Atlanta-Journal Constitution on Sunday, Mitchell acknowledged it took him getting to college to realize just how much he struggled with reading and writing. “That’s when it really hit me that there were some things I needed to work on,” he said.

Fast forward to February of this year, Mitchell, who spent the entire 2017 season on injured reserve with a knee injury, decided to use the recovery time to enhance his writing abilities, and wrote an expanded second edition of “The Magicians Hat.”

“[Reading and photography] really helped me get through that tough time. That’s just the message I keep sending, that reading can help you get through stuff,” Malcolm told Patriots.com. “Examples of when I’m hurt just happen to be the best way to explain that because that’s when I really need it the most.”

Over the past few weeks, Mitchell has been touring locations in both Boston and his hometown of Atlanta promoting the second edition and doing reading sessions with local children in different communities. When asked to describe what these events mean to him, Mitchell said;

“It means our mission is being spread. What we’re trying to achieve is being reciprocated by the community because it’s the Boston community that made it so the kids could take all those books home,” Malcolm said. “I think there’s a lot of different things that today represents – community support, obviously literacy, getting books into the hands of kids. Overall, positivity of the message [is] that reading can change the world.”

You can check out his full interview with CNN below and if you’d like to purchase the book or locate his next public signing be sure to checkout readwithmalcolm.com

In The Magician's Hat, Super Bowl champ & literacy crusader @Money_Mitch26 presents the story of a magician who reveals an awe-inspiring treasure from his bag of tricks — books that make every kid's dream come true! Video: https://t.co/cJjKETOhe9 Excerpt: https://t.co/UzjJ86ehFw pic.twitter.com/euBnNldXkt

— Scholastic Canada (@scholasticCDA) March 11, 2018