Lean Six Sigma for Kids:
The PROBLEM SOLVERS Series
In the Lean Six Sigma for Kids series, young readers learn simple, smart tools inspired by real-world problem-solving methods known as Lean and Six Sigma.
Perfect for kids who love to solve problems, get organized, or just enjoy a good story with a helpful twist!
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Matt and Millie - The PROBLEM SOLVERS Series - children's books!
Lean Six Sigma for Kids – The PROBLEM SOLVERS Series
Where Curiosity Meets Creativity—and Every Problem Has a Brilliant Solution!
Meet Matt and Millie—two clever, curious kids with a BIG talent for fixing problems and a HUGE love for asking “Why?” Together, they’re on a mission to make their school, their town, and even the world a better place—one smart solution at a time!
In The PROBLEM SOLVERS Series, kids join Matt and Millie as they uncover mysteries, solve everyday challenges, and learn how to make things smoother, faster, cleaner, and cooler using the powerful tools of Lean and Six Sigma!
From untangling a chaotic messy room to organizing and managing a lemonade stand, Matt and Millie show readers how to:
- Ask great questions (just like detectives!),
- Work together as a team,
- Spot what’s slowing things down,
- And come up with creative fixes that actually work!
✨ For Kids: Jump into exciting adventures with Matt and Millie and become a real-world problem solver—just like them!
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For Parents & Educators: Sneaky learning alert! These stories introduce critical thinking, collaboration, and process improvement in fun, relatable ways your kids will actually enjoy. Packed with colorful characters, funny moments, and big “Aha!” discoveries, this series turns curious kids into confident changemakers.
Book 1: Matt and Millie...
and the Messy Room
In the Lean Six Sigma for Kids series, young readers learn simple, smart tools inspired by real-world problem-solving methods known as Lean and Six Sigma.
In Book 1: Matt and Millie… and the Messy Room,
Millie’s room is out of control—and she needs help fast! With the guidance of their clever sidekick, Toolie, Matt and Millie discover the “3S” method: Sort, Sweep, and Standardize. Together, they turn chaos into calm and learn how organizing can actually be fun!
Perfect for kids who love to solve problems, get organized, or just enjoy a good story with a helpful twist!
Merchandise and nearly FREE Lesson Plan and Worksheets now available on Etsy!!! leanwerx.etsy.com
Book 2: Matt and Millie...
Don't be Late for Practice!
In the Lean Six Sigma for Kids series, young readers learn simple, smart tools inspired by real-world problem-solving methods known as Lean and Six Sigma.
Book 2: Matt and Millie… Don’t be Late for Practice!
Uh-oh… Matt’s late for baseball practice again—and Coach is not impressed! What went wrong this time? Did he forget his glove? Was Daisy the dog hiding his cleats again? Or is something else slowing him down? It’s time for the Problem Solvers to learn about Process Maps and looking for WASTE!
Perfect for kids who love to solve problems, get organized, or just enjoy a good story with a helpful twist!
Merchandise and nearly FREE Lesson Plan and Worksheets now available on Etsy!!! leanwerx.etsy.com
Book 3: Matt and Millie...
Easy Bake!
In the Lean Six Sigma for Kids series, young readers learn simple, smart tools inspired by real-world problem-solving methods known as Lean and Six Sigma.
Book 3: Matt and Millie… Easy Bake!
Ding-dong! Millie just got the BEST surprise gift ever—a brand-new Easy Bakery Oven! She’s dreaming of warm, frosted cupcakes and chocolatey mini cakes... but wait—how does this thing even work?
Join Matt, Millie, their cheerful (and always prepared) sidekick Toolie the talking toolbox, and their cake-loving dog Daisy, as they tackle their tastiest challenge yet: figuring out the baking process from start to finish. But this time, they’re not just guessing—they’re using a clever tool called a SIPOC!
Perfect for kids who love to solve problems, get organized, or just enjoy a good story with a helpful twist!
Merchandise and nearly FREE Lesson Plan and Worksheets now available on Etsy!!! leanwerx.etsy.com
Book 4: Matt and Millie... Waste Not!
In the Lean Six Sigma for Kids series, young readers learn simple, smart tools inspired by real-world problem-solving methods known as Lean and Six Sigma.
Book 4: Matt and Millie... Waste Not!
Spring is here, and Matt and Millie are ready to plant a beautiful flower garden! With Daisy the dog wagging her tail and Toolie the talking toolbox ready to help, it should be easy—right? Wrong! Tools are missing, they keep walking in circles, and a flower pot spills before they even get started. This garden project is turning into a messy mission!
But never fear—the Problem Solvers are on the job! In this blooming backyard adventure, Matt and Millie discover the 8 common wastes described as TIMWOODU. With Toolie’s clever clues and a little teamwork, Matt and Millie start to spot the sneaky wastes slowing them down. One fix at a time, they streamline their process—and soon they’re planting faster, smarter, and with way more fun. The final garden? A flowery masterpiece!
Perfect for kids who love to solve problems, get organized, or just enjoy a good story with a helpful twist!
Merchandise and nearly FREE Lesson Plan and Worksheets now available on Etsy!!! leanwerx.etsy.com
Book 5: Matt and Millie... to Name a Puppy!
In the Lean Six Sigma for Kids series, young readers learn simple, smart tools inspired by real-world problem-solving methods known as Lean and Six Sigma.
Book 5: Matt and Millie… to Name a Puppy!
🐾 One tail-wagging mystery. One very bouncy puppy. One big question: What should we name her?! Join Matt and Millie as they travel back to a special memory—when their lovable, zoomy, floppy-eared pup was just a tiny furball with no name! Choosing the perfect name wasn’t easy… until Toolie the talking toolbox showed up with a bright idea: brainstorming!
With giggles, goofiness, and a few hilarious name ideas (Pupperoni? Banana Wiggles?!), Matt and Millie learned how to:
🧠 Brainstorm creative ideas without judging
📋Narrow down options by voting as a team
🎉Make a decision everyone can celebrate!
With a little help from Dad (and a LOT of tail wags), they found the name that fit their joyful pup just right—Daisy, like the happiest flower in the garden.
Merchandise and nearly FREE Lesson Plan and Worksheets now available on Etsy!!! leanwerx.etsy.com
Book 6: Matt and Millie...
and the Great Lemonade Stand!
In the Lean Six Sigma for Kids series, young readers learn simple, smart tools inspired by real-world problem-solving methods known as Lean and Six Sigma.
Book 6: Matt and Millie… and the Great Lemonade Stand!
🍋 It’s a sunny day in the neighborhood, and Matt and Millie are ready to set up their biggest lemonade stand ever! The birds are chirping, Daisy the dog is chasing her ball, and the ideas are flowing—maybe too many ideas! Should they make signs? Use paint? What about a dancing dog show?!
Just when things start to feel overwhelming, their clever sidekick Toolie the talking toolbox rolls in with a new problem-solving trick: the PICK chart! Toolie shows them how to sort out their wild and wonderful ideas using a special grid that ranks each one by how easy it is and how big the payoff could be. It’s called:
🟨 P – Possible
🟩 I – Implement
🟥 C – Challenge
⬛ K – Kill (yep, some ideas are just too much!)
With crayons in hand and teamwork in full force, Matt and Millie build their very own PICK chart and discover the perfect plan to decorate and run their stand. They focus on the best ideas—easy to do and guaranteed to make customers smile—and get their lemonade stand up and running just in time for the afternoon rush.
Merchandise and nearly FREE Lesson Plan and Worksheets now available on Etsy!!! leanwerx.etsy.com
Book 7: Matt and Millie...
Where to Start?
In the Lean Six Sigma for Kids series, young readers learn simple, smart tools inspired by real-world problem-solving methods known as Lean and Six Sigma.
Book 7: Matt and Millie… Where to Start?
It’s SPRING CLEANING time—and the whole house needs a refresh!
Matt and Millie are ready to help... but there’s a big question on their minds:
Where do we even begin?!
Their rooms are already clean (thanks, 3S from Book 1!), but the garage storage room is packed, the basement is a bit scary, and the game room looks like it exploded with game pieces, shoes, and cluttered furniture.
Enter Toolie, their trusty talking toolbox, with a new problem-solving gadget in mind: the Pareto Chart! With Daisy the dog by their side and notebook in hand, Matt and Millie start counting the mess in each space—tallies of toys, tangles, and trouble! Once they plug the numbers into a simple bar chart, the answer becomes clear: Clean the worst area first—the one with the biggest mess and the most problems!
With a little teamwork and a lot of laughter, they tackle the room that needs the most help first, and the results? Totally satisfying. Even Mom gives them a gold star!
Merchandise and nearly FREE Lesson Plan and Worksheets now available on Etsy!!! leanwerx.etsy.com
Book 8: Matt and Millie... and the Best (Value) Bike!
In the Lean Six Sigma for Kids series, young readers learn simple, smart tools inspired by real-world problem-solving methods known as Lean and Six Sigma.
Book 8: Matt and Millie… and the Best (Value) Bike!
Millie has big dreams: sparkles, super tires, a Bluetooth speaker, and ALL the extras on her new bike. There’s just one small thing… her budget. With so many cool features to choose from, Millie and Matt turn to their trusty sidekick Toolie—the talking toolbox with a Lean Six Sigma twist! This time, Toolie introduces them to a new tool called a Scatter Diagram—a simple chart that helps show the relationship between cost and features.
As Millie plots out each bike option, a pattern begins to form: the more features a bike has, the more it costs! 😲 But that doesn’t mean she has to settle—in fact, it means she can make the smartest choice. With Matt’s help, Daisy’s wagging encouragement, and a lot of thoughtful thinking, Millie decides which features matter most to her. The result? A bike that fits her budget, feels like her style, and brings a huge smile to her face!
Merchandise and nearly FREE Lesson Plan and Worksheets now available on Etsy!!! leanwerx.etsy.com
Book 9: Matt and Millie... and the Case of the Missing Homework
In the Lean Six Sigma for Kids series, young readers learn simple, smart tools inspired by real-world problem-solving methods known as Lean and Six Sigma.
Book 9: Matt and Millie… and the Case of the Missing Homework
It happened again—Matt’s homework is missing! He worked so hard on his lemonade stand report… and now it’s gone. Last week it was math, the week before—a permission slip! What’s going on?
Luckily, Toolie is back with a new problem-solving tool: Root Cause Analysis! With help from the 5 Why’s, and asking “Why?” five times, Matt and Millie uncover the real reasons behind the disappearing homework.
Together, they build smarter habits—and no more morning meltdowns!
📚 A fun and relatable story that helps kids learn how to think deeper, solve problems, and take action! For home, classroom, or co-op learning.
Merchandise and nearly FREE Lesson Plan and Worksheets now available on Etsy!!! leanwerx.etsy.com
