Meet Caroline Wilcox Ugurlu, Ph.D., a teacher, researcher, and passionate advocate for early literacy who has dedicated her career to demystifying how children learn to read. With her groundbreaking Letters Are Characters® series, Dr. Ugurlu combines science, storytelling, and play to give parents, caregivers, and educators powerful tools to help young learners succeed.
Her books are designed to address a critical need: according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress, two-thirds of fourth graders are not meeting fluency benchmarks. Dr. Ugurlu’s mission is clear: to ensure that all children, regardless of learning style, have the opportunity to experience reading as an empowering, joyful journey.
Letters Are Characters
This is the cornerstone of Dr. Ugurlu’s literacy program—a play-based reading curriculum for emerging readers and an essential guide for parents and caregivers. By giving each letter a face, story, and personality, children learn to “crack the code” of reading while playing, laughing, and connecting. The book emphasizes that reading acquisition is neurological rather than a measure of intelligence, and provides step-by-step guidance for caregivers to support struggling readers with compassion and confidence.
Discover Letters Are Characters
Letters Are Characters: Coloring & Multisensory Activity Book
This hands-on companion brings the concepts of Letters Are Characters to life through coloring pages, large letter templates, and interactive exercises. Designed for all types of learners, the book helps children engage their senses through drawing, tracing, building letters with clay, and even adding color and emotion to each character. The activity book fosters creativity, empathy, and reading readiness, making learning both memorable and fun.
Letters Are Builders
The newest addition to the series, Letters Are Builders, is a decodable, play-based reading primer that helps children master short vowel sounds, consonant-vowel-consonant words, and high-frequency sight words. With repetition, humor, and interactive illustrations, learners practice phonics while also imagining and drawing their own mental pictures by strengthening comprehension and creativity skills. Reading is about building meaning, not guessing from pictures, and these books help children form the neural pathways necessary for fluent reading.
Start building with Letters Are Builders
About the Author
Caroline Wilcox Ugurlu, PhD, is more than an educator. She is a scientist, librarian, and parent who has poured years of research and heart into her literacy program. She believes that reading is an “essential occasion with the self” that can transform lives and communities.
A portion of each book sale is donated to the Literacy Through Libraries program, underscoring her commitment to expanding reading access for all children.
Dr. Ugurlu’s playful, compassionate approach is already changing lives. By blending the science of reading with the natural joy of play, she provides children with confidence, caregivers with practical tools, and communities with hope. As Paul B. Yellin, MD, Associate Professor of Pediatrics at NYU School of Medicine, notes, her program is “a playful, compassionate, and well-informed program for parents to help their children begin to build critical reading readiness skills”.
Whether you’re a parent, grandparent, teacher, or advocate for literacy, Caroline Wilcox Ugurlu’s Letters Are Characters® series offers a path to unlock the wonder of words and give every child the chance to thrive as a reader.
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