For a lot of us, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is one of the most iconic books of our childhoods. Just thinking about it brings about recollections of chocolate rivers, glass elevators that can run in any direction and sadistic-yet-charismatic candy makers who leave their magical factories to poor, good-hearted children. It does not, however, bring about memories of scary living-doll girls, like the latest Penguin edition of the book seems to suggest.
It’s easy to get overly attached to things from our past and when it comes to Roald Dahl books, it’s very hard to separate them from the art of beloved illustrator Quentin Blake. Still, it’s probably not possessiveness that’s making people react so strongly to the new cover, but rather the fact that it seems more suited for Valley of the Dolls — For Kids! than it does Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
Next? A Penguin edition of The Witches that inexplicably shows a popsicle melting in the sun. (Just spitballing here.)
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Still here. Still without airbrushing. Still with teeth.
