N read this to me for her 31-day Read-Aloud Challenge. I was suitably impressed by the writing and vocabulary, having previously considered this series twaddle, in my ignorance. I love how these books promote kindness, generosity, and caring for the elderly.
N has learned lots of new words from this book alone, such as: auburn, residents, cardigan, persuade, rival, plume, and more. I especially like the way the author avoids the use of the plain word "said" after dialogue; these are some of the words used instead: grunted, begged, explained, whispered, cooed, grinned, wailed, grumbled, snapped, howled, sighed, gushed, exclaimed, asked, announced, replied, called, demanded, gasped, insisted, yelled, wondered, finished, bellowed, shouted, decided, declared, agreed, growled, ordered, snorted, hissed, lied, pressed, cried, stammered, muttered, added, suggested...I could go on. Wow!!! (N enjoyed helping me find and list all these examples.)
The descriptive phrases used in this book were also really good.
Conclusion? I will no longer label anything as twaddle unless I have examined it longer than it takes to give a cursory glance. 😆