The Beginner's Guide to Canadian Honours.

Dave Jenkinson is a professor in the Faculty of Education at the University of Manitoba and the author of the “Portraits” section of Emergency Librarian.

The author of two books for adults on Canada’s honours, The Canadian Honours System and The Order of Canada, McCreery has produced a good, but somewhat flawed, introduction to Canada’s system of recognizing its citizens for their contributions in helping others or for their acts of bravery in peace and war. Because the book’s scope is limited to official honours from the government of Canada, other awards, such as medals for bravery given by other organizations, are excluded. Recognizing that juveniles often just see medals, McCreery’s first of 13 chapters defines what honours are and explains their three types: orders, decorations, and medals. Following a chapter on the history of honours systems used in Canada prior to the nation’s 1967 centennial, McCreery provides his longest, most fully developed chapter, which focuses on the Order of Canada. Subsequent chapters deal with other orders granted in Canada, including provincial orders, as well as decorations for bravery and meritorious service. McCreery inconsistently provides examples of recipients of the aforementioned honours. Chapters 8 to 13, which deal with a number of topics, including medals for military campaigns and service, commemorative, and long service medals, are too thin in their content. Given the book’s intended audience, the seven pages devoted to when and how to wear “your medals” should have been deleted. The final chapter, consisting of eight pages of colour illustrations of the ribbons connected to honours, lacks any supporting text. Readers will, however, definitely respond to the many full-colour photos that illustrate the various honours. Recommended.