I am asking this from the point of a reader not a writer and just wondering why, so sorry if this is a bad place.

I read loads of books to my kids and the construct always seems to go:

> "What a day," gleefully burbled Kate

With all of the information needed after the fact for reading out loud: who is speaking and the mood of the speech.

So why is that preferred over:

> Kate gleefully burbled "what a day."


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This example is chosen to show a quote which I would read in a gloomy voice to discover I was completely wrong after the fact.