India, March 15 -- What's the best way into the world of words? It turns out the answer may be: a book that contains none.

Wordless books are being published around the world, targeted mainly at children, aimed as a sort of gateway drug to the world of reading. As so happens with things targeted at children, parents and other adults are ending up entranced too.

Take a look at the images alongside. The fact that they tell a story is undeniable. Often, it's a slow, Studio Ghibli-like tale of quiet afternoons and the ephemeral magic of the everyday.

The plot is designed to be open to interpretation. Is the child crying in the playground, on the first day of school, a bully, a victim, or just nervous?

One can imagine children spending hou...