Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’s new cover is terrifying everyone

YOU loved this book as a kid. You enjoyed the two film adaptations too. So what on EARTH is going on with the terrifying new cover design?

YOU’RE perusing the Penguin Classics shelf at your local bookstore for a beloved old novel to discover all over again.

Ahh, the Roald Dahl section. Remember these novels from your youth? Of course you do.

Oh hey, they’ve re-released Charlie and the Chocolate Factory with an updated cover. Take it off the shelf and see what they’ve... OH MY GOD DEAD CREEPY CHILD DOLL WITH WAY TOO MUCH MAKE-UP ON!!!

What the HECK, Penguin Classics?

The bizarre new jacket was unveiled on Thursday as part of the Penguin Modern Classics range, and immediately met with pretty widespread outrage, anger and confusion.

A statement from the publisher, Penguin, said the artwork was intended to stress the “light and the dark aspects” of Dahl’s work.

“This design is in recognition of the book’s extraordinary cultural impact and is one of the few children’s books to be featured in the Penguin Modern Classics list,” the statement from Penguin said, according to the BBC.

“This new image for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory looks at the children at the centre of the story, and highlights the way Roald Dahl’s writing manages to embrace both the light and the dark aspects of life.”

Uh-huh. The world wasn’t so convinced.

Author Giles Paley Phillips said it looked “more like Lolita”. Chocolat author Joanne Harris asked why adult readers needed a different cover, especially a seemingly sexualised one.

Seriously, Penguin Books. Why not just get Rolf Harris to design the next one?

— Joanne Harris (@Joannechocolat) August 7, 2014

A Penguin spokeswoman said the new edition was intended for an older audience and the picture wasn’t meant to represent either of the female children in the story — Veruca Salt or Violet Beauregard.

“We wanted something that spoke about the other qualities in the book,” Penguin Press’s Helen Conford told the Bookseller. “It’s a children’s story that also steps outside children’s and people aren’t used to seeing Dahl in that way.”

The image is taken from a French magazine shoot by photographers Sofia Sanchez and Mauro Mongiello, for a 2008 fashion article entitled Mommie Dearest.