Penguin Modern Classics is at the center of criticism following the release of a redesigned "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" cover which features what many consider to be a questionable and sexualized image.

The publisher of the popular children's book, is releasing the new cover for the book's 50th anniversary edition in hopes of drawing in an adult audience, according to the Daily Mail.

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The cover photograph of the book features a fully made-up young girl wearing a feather boa and sitting on her mother's knee with a doll-like expression on her face.

Penguin told the Telegraph that the cover was not a symbolism for any of the female characters in the story but was meant to represent the book's description of the "twisted" relationship between a parent and a child.

"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," Penguin said, according to the National Post.

However, the book's cover immediately received backlash from social media, with fans calling it "creepy," "grotesque" and "sexualized."

On Thursday, "Chocolat" author Joanne Harris posted about the cover on her Twitter account, saying: "I'm not sure why adults need a different cover anyway, but who was it who decided that 'adult' meant 'inappropriately sexualised'?"

"Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," written by Roald Dahl in 1964, tells the story of a penniless boy named Charlie Bucket who wins a golden ticket to enter Willy Wonka's chocolate factory.

The story depicts Charlie as a sweet and thoughtful boy while the other children who receive tickets are "monstrous" and "spoiled."

According to reports, redesigning the cover of the children's book was intended to allow an adult audience to read it without being embarrassed about being seen with a book for young people.

The 50th anniversary edition of the book is set to be released on Sept. 4.

Tagsroald dahl, charlie and the chocolate factory, charlie and the chocolate factory 50th anniversary, penguin modern classics