The goals of a cross-age tutoring program involving first and fifth graders were to stimulate oral language development in first graders and to help them read for meaning. The fifth grade students worked with the younger students on a one-to-one basis to stimulate language development and to encourage the academic growth in other skills necessary for beginning reading. Wordless picture books were used to help develop the cognitive and affective skills important for beginning readers, such as sequencing, predicting, developing vocabulary, determining cause and effect, expanding sentences, identifying pattern repetition, determining main ideas, and making judgments. The educational benefits of the program and the value of one particular type of wordless picture may be understood within the framework of the five essential ingredients for program success: knowledge and planning, selection of appropriate materials, training, on-going monitoring and support, and evaluation. (EL)