[CarrieF Posts: 201 Status: Offline WWW]

The subject line of this thread pretty much says it all.

The thing that gets me is that, even reading their explanation of what they were thinking (the bit about how Dahl's work explores the dark side of childhood) I STILL don't get it. What does the cover image have to do with that?

[Marissa Doyle Posts: 2,975 Status: Offline Charles Bewitched: out now! WWW]

The thing that gets me is that, even reading their explanation of what they were thinking (the bit about how Dahl's work explores the dark side of childhood) I STILL don't get it. What does the cover image have to do with that?

This.  It's almost as if someone who'd never actually read the book but had read other people's blog posts about Dahl's "darkness" and drew their own conclusions about what that means chose the cover.

[dreamless Posts: 87 Status: Offline Procrastinating Again WWW]

I may be the only person who likes the cover. I've been a huge fan of Dahl since I could read and the cover is creepy and completely out-there, just like his books. It shows perfectly the parental influence over these horrible kids. Though I would have loved to see a collection of different covers, featuring the other children, not just Veruca.  And hey... the cover definitely got people talking, so it's a marketing win.

[Franzilla Posts: 998 Status: Offline Gah! WWW]

I may be the only person who likes the cover. I've been a huge fan of Dahl since I could read and the cover is creepy and completely out-there, just like his books. It shows perfectly the parental influence over these horrible kids. Though I would have loved to see a collection of different covers, featuring the other children, not just Veruca.  And hey... the cover definitely got people talking, so it's a marketing win.

That's just what makes it weirder though, they say it is not Veruca or any other character.

[dreamless Posts: 87 Status: Offline Procrastinating Again WWW]

That's just what makes it weirder though, they say it is not Veruca or any other character.

But anyone who read the book would just assume it's Veruca. That's who I thought it was immediately. I mean, even if it's Violet, it shows the influence of the parents over their horrid children.

[Franzilla Posts: 998 Status: Offline Gah! WWW]

But anyone who read the book would just assume it's Veruca. That's who I thought it was immediately. I mean, even if it's Violet, it shows the influence of the parents over their horrid children.

Yes, which is why it's weird to say it's not supposed to be any of the characters. I think the image is powerful in itself but if it's not supposed to be about little girls being made to grow up too fast, then I think it's a bad choice. Dahl's book isn't all about girls growing up too fast. If anything, Charlie is the character under the most pressure to behave like an adult, even more than his grandpa!


I'm not in denial about the dark side of his stories, nor why they wanted to show that on the cover, I get that logic. The logic I don't get is why they insist it isn't supposed to look like any character. They could have said, the girl and her mother represent the messed up relationships between parent and child, as described by Dahl in the story, or something along those lines. But instead they just mentioned his darker side and that it isn't supposed to represent a character. To me, that makes it sound as though they didn't really think it through.


I'm glad we have at least one person on the boards who likes it though!different opinions = good discussion!

[Christine B. Posts: 368 Status: Offline WWW]

I'm with Dreamless in that I sort of like the cover. I certainly see where the critics are coming from. It gives me a strong emotional reaction -- disgust and fascination; confusion; wanting to look and not look at the same time. And there's something powerful about that. There's something about that that feels true to Dahl.

[thunderingelephants Posts: 1,262 Status: Offline]

I have to admit that I am reading Danny the Champion of the world and from Dahl's narration and Quentin Blake's illustrations I just can't envisage he would see that image of any character as the right one. His writing style just doesn't seem to project that image on the cover.