'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory' gets a 'creepy' new cover

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'Charlie And The Chocolate Factory' Gets Creepy New Cover
'Charlie And The Chocolate Factory' Gets Creepy New Cover


A new book cover for a classic children's tale was released Wednesday, and it has many fans of the beloved story baffled.

Penguin Books teased an image on its Facebook page, asking followers to guess which story it could possibly belong to.

Hours later, the company revealed it's the new cover for Roald Dahl's "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" as a celebration of the book's 50th anniversary.



At first glance, we weren't sure how that cover tied into a story about a young boy who wins a golden ticket to visit a chocolate factory. The publisher explained its reasoning behind the big change.

"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 dark aspects of life."

A writer for Business Insider pointed out the doll-like girl on the cover is probably supposed to be either Violet Beauregarde or Veruca Salt.

For those who don't remember, Violet is the character who turned into a gigantic blueberry, and Veruca is the spoiled brat who bullied her parents into buying things for her.

The Guardian thought the cover was so bad, it included it on its list of the five worst book covers ever. Others that made the list included a cover for George Orwell's "1984" that's pretty scandalous, and one for Emily Bronte's "Wuthering Heights" that simply showcases a dying rose.

But at least one person seems to like the new approach.

A blogger for Creative Review, which looks at design and visual culture, wrote that the photo on the cover "touches on one of the main undercurrents in the book: the relationship between children and their parents, and what can happen when fame and fortune enter into their lives."

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