Wordless picture books are a gift to the student of English as a Second Language (ESL). A strong story line is delivered through illustrations which are thoughtfully prepared. These books free the ESL student to draw from personal experience and write the story at his own ability level from personal vocabulary. Self-expression and creative thinking are encouraged, and students can share the books with non-English-speaking adults. The student is introduced to reading skills, and these skills are reinforced. Wordless books provide a rich source of material for student- centered, authentic language development activities that are satisfying and successful. Possible activities using the books and students' interpretations of them include: creation of an audiotape from students' written stories; having the teacher tell the newly-written story to non-English-speakers; having students, working alone, arrange photocopied pictures in their own order; having the students "read" the pictures, then listen to the teacher tell the story; having the group create a sentence per page; having one student tell the whole class the story; and having students match teacher-created sentences to the pictures. A bibliography lists 215 wordless books and rates them on a scale of one to five. (MSE)