Another classic story from William Steig, the Caldecott and Newbery Medal-winning creator of Shrek! , Dominic follows a kind-hearted dog who sets off on an adventure, encountering friends and foes along the way. Dear Friends, I am leaving in rather a hurry to see more of the world, so I have no time to say goodbye to you individually. I embrace you all and sniff you with love. I don't know when I'll be back. But back I will be. Dominic It's time for a change, so Dominic packs his collection of hats and his piccolo and heads out, letting the world take him where it may. When Dominic encounters members of the Doomsday Gang, he easily foils their attempt to rob him. Legend of his victory quickly spreads, and each new friend Dominic meets tells him a story of their own less-fortunate meeting with the villains, and asks for help from the heroic dog. But can one lone dog bring down an entire band of hooligans? “William Steig has created an engaging hero, a dog with a heart of gold, nerves of steel, and the varied talents of Renaissance Man. Dominic sallies forth to see the world and to earn gratitude and acclaim for his generosity, his courage, and his prowess at absolutely everything to which he turns his paw--including the foiling of a dastardly troop of villains who have been preying on the community . . . A good story for reading aloud.” ― The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books “A likely candidate for classic status.” ― Selma G. Lanes, Harper's William Steig (1907-2003) was a cartoonist, illustrator and author of award-winning books for children, including Shrek! , on which the DreamWorks movies are based. Steig was born in New York City. Every member of his family was involved in the arts, and so it was no surprise when he decided to become an artist. He attended City College and the National Academy of Design. In 1930, Steig’s work began appearing in The New Yorker , where his drawings have been a popular fixture ever since. He published his first children's book, Roland the Minstrel Pig , in 1968. In 1970, Steig received the Caldecott Medal for Sylvester and the Magic Pebble . His books for children also include Dominic ; The Real Thief ; The Amazing Bone , a Caldecott Honor Book; Amos & Boris , a National Book Award finalist; and Abel's Island and Doctor De Soto , both Newbery Honor Books. Steig's books have also received the Christopher Award, the Irma Simonton Black Award, the William Allen White Children's Book Award, and the American Book Award. His European awards include the Premio di Letteratura per l'infanzia (Italy), the Silver Pencil Award (the Netherlands), and the Prix de la Fondation de France. On the basis of his entire body of work, Steig was selected as the 1982 U.S. candidate for the Hans Christian Andersen Medal for Illustration and subsequently as the 1988 U.S. candidate for Writing. Steig also published thirteen collections of drawings for adults, beginning with About People in 1939, and including The Lonely Ones , Male/Female , The Agony in the Kindergarten , and Our Miserable Life . He died in Boston at the age of 95. Dominic By William Steig Macmillan Copyright © 1972 William Steig All rights reserved. ISBN: 978-0-312-37144-9 CHAPTER 1 Dominic was a lively one, always up to something. One day, more restless than usual, he decided there wasn't enough going on in his own neighborhood to satisfy his need for adventure. He just had to get away. He owned an assortment of hats which he liked to wear, not for warmth or for shade or to shield him from rain, but for their various effects — rakish, dashing, solemn, or martial. He packed them, together with his precious piccolo and a few other things, in a large bandanna which he tied to the end of a stick so it could be carried easily over a shoulder. Too impatient to dash around saying goodbye to everyone, he hammered this note to his door: "Dear Friends, I am leaving in rather a hurry to see more of the world, so I have no time to say goodbye to you individually. I embrace you all and sniff you with love. I don't know when I'll be back. But back I will be. Dominic." He locked the door, buried the key, and left home to seek his fortune — that is, to look for whatever it was that was going to happen to him out there in the unknown world. He took the highroad going east so he could greet the sunrise as soon as it arrived, and also the nightfall. But he didn't travel in a straight line. He was forever leaving the road, coming back to it and leaving it again, investigating the source of every smell and sound, every sight that intrigued him. Nothing escaped his ardent attention. On the second day of his journey, he reached a fork in the road and he wondered whether to go the way that veered off to the left or the one that curved over to the right. He would have been happy to go both ways at once. Since that was impossible, he flipped a coin — heads for the left, tails for the right. It fell