This  may not be an issue that specifically relates to women, but it’s certainly got a lot of people talking this week.

If like me, you’ve been a lover of reading since childhood – chances are you’ll have been a fan of Roald Dahl’s books. I can’t tell you how many hours of joy his stories brought me over the years – from the hilarious tale of The Twits, to the trials and tribulations of the 24-foot tall BFG.

A lot of the fun came from the quirky illustrations drawn by Quentin Blake that accompanied Dahl’s stories. As children we loved the cartoon drawings of Matilda and The Witches – both Blake and Dahl seemed to be the perfect combination.

Fast forward decades later and one of Dahl’s best loved books, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, has just been reprinted by Penguin as a Modern Classics edition for adults to mark 50 years since its release.

Gone are Blake’s light-hearted sketches of the silly characters – on the cover now is a stony-faced young girl wearing a face full of makeup and a feather boa, sitting on an adult’s knee as a dark shadow looms behind her.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the cover has caused a bit of controversy, as Penguin have now been accused of ‘sexualising’ a child on the cover.

Chocolat author Joanne Harris tweeted her views, saying: “I’m not sure why adults need a different cover anyway but who was it decided that ‘adult’ meant ‘inappropriately sexualised’?

The cover girl was also compared to Lolita, while many described it as ‘creepy’, ‘horrifying’ and ‘confusing’.

Penguin, however, defended their choice, saying: ‘the design is in recognition of the book’s extraordinary impact and is one of the few children’s books to be featured in the Penguin Modern Classics list.

The new image, they said, ‘represents the children at the centre of the story, and highlights how Dahl’s writing manages to embrace both the light and dark aspects of a statement.’

Myself, I struggle to see how a female child dressed as an adult in makeup relates to a book which tells the tale of a young boy finding a golden ticket to Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory. But as disturbing as it may seem, I wouldn’t say the cover could be construed as sexual. Strange? Yes. Relevant? I’m not convinced. But sexual? How?

A Quentin Blake illustration of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Book covers are important I think, and I like how I can still picture in my head the original covers of some of my favourite ever stories, but in the grand scheme of things, I’m just pleased such an important book from mine and countless others’ childhoods is still being discussed so prevalently today.

It seems to be the trend to modernise everything, when surely it would be better to leave things as they were. Blake’s illustrations were iconic in themselves, and at the end of the day – it is a children’s book – surely it should stay that way?

But whether or not we agree with the cover, isn’t the most important thing that we’re still getting to appreciate the wonderful books of our childhood, which allowed us many happy hours of escapism?

And if you’re offended by it? Go out and buy one of the versions with a less controversial cover.