Kate Horton - Books for Kids

18/05/2026

I've been in the bookshop for two weeks now. I've figured out how to process a sale, how to order stock and how to fix the $1/ride rocket machine out on the footpath.
Now that I kinda know the ropes, I'm ready to start research mode to get things happening for schools. First things first though, figuring out how the margins work so I know how much wriggle room I've got with pricing. As you'd expect, the more I buy, the better the deal. This makes it tempting to buy things in quantities of 10/20... but reality hits pretty quickly when you start seeing the bills come in, and it's an easy decision to say yes to 2 or 3 copies of most things. Plus, we've got over 6,000 different titles in the shop; we'd need to add on a warehouse if I went too crazy ... maybe that bit happens in 2027.
So let's just order them in.
If you want a class set of just avoyt any book in the world that is still in print, I can hook you up, and the delivery will take about 4 weeks. So you go and get organized for Term 3, and I'll sort the books for you.

09/05/2026

07/05/2026

Here's my first teacher special for you: 10% off anything by Donovan Bixley.
When you think about it, books are the first exposure kids get to great art, and Donovan 100% gets that. Not only is he a great author, he's a PHENOMENAL illustrator.
The websites a few days away so if you see anything that tickles your fancy, send me a DM and I'll pop it in the post to you.

06/05/2026

Day 1 in the bookshop is done and dusted. My friend popped in bright and early to make sure she was my first official customer which was super special.
So far this week I've been reminded that:
🫡 when you want to do ALL THE THINGS it's important to accept that they won't all be sorted in week 1.
😉 what customers want vs. what you think they'll want can be two very different things (I sold an unexpectedly high quantity of wrapping paper today).
🥳 when people offer to help, let them!

I'm running the show for the first 3 weeks before my store manager gets started, then I'll spend most of my time in School-Supplier mode. So for now, watch this space for updates from the retail world.

23/04/2026

I bought a book shop!
In May I'll be the proud new owner of Books for Kids in Hamilton.
The most exciting part for you, is that I've partnered with to bring every teacher in NZ a discount off EVERYTHING. We'll also build a bank of curriculum linked teaching resources for every book that we think deserves a spot in your school library.

It's just over a week until I take over, and I'll make sure to share every step of the journey.

And please, if you have recommendations for how I could make Books for Kids the best little bookshop in the world, fire them through. I'm all ears!

02/04/2026

3 things that happen in every LEGO Serious Play session:

1. The quietest person in the room says something that changes everything.

2. Someone builds something they can't explain... and then explains it perfectly.

3. The team leaves with a plan they actually made together.

I can teach you to use LEGO as a collaboration & leadership tool.

LEGO® Serious Play® certification training is open for enrolment.

📅 April 30th - May 1st
🐄 Hamilton
💬 Give me a yell if you want the details
1m

31/03/2026

One of the coolest things I've learned about, is how to use LEGO to run big serious strategy meetings - and what's even cooler, I get to teach other people how to use it too! What even is my life?!?!

So, if you've sat in meeting after meeting where the same people talked the whole time, or been subjected to having someone read a 100-word slide to you... this is the opposite of that.

LEGO® Serious Play® is a research backed, collaboration methodology, built on the idea: when everyone builds, everyone contributes.

No PowerPoints. No post-its and no parking-lot that never gets referred back to ever again. Just hands, bricks, and conversations that actually go somewhere.

Our certification training teaches you how to facilitate LEGO Serious Play sessions yourself. It's great for leaders, trainers and anyone that wants to lead better meetings.

📍 2 spots available
🐄 Happening in Hamilton
🔊 Yell out if you want all the details

26/03/2026

I used to work at a school with a Husband & Wife leadership team. I'd assumed that they must run out of things to talk about and bore each other to tears with work chat 24/7.
It turns out, working together & living together is actually pretty rad.
We get to go on work trips together, we totally understand each other's crazy workhours, and we waste zero time on office small-talk / "how was your weekend?" chats.
The office parties go off too!

A lot of our clients are couples who have started businesses too, and the secret sauce to making it work that they all have in common:
✅ They have clear role descriptions
✅ They have separate hobbies
✅ They've found excellent ways to communicate with each other

Could you do it??

24/04/2025

Reflection is all about awareness.
These questions are all about discovering the things that are within your control that are holding you back.
Have a go at reflecting either by yourself or with your team and see how it impacts on next week.