THE DOG had no name. For a dog to have a name, someone must have him and someone must love him, and a dog must have someone. The dog had no one. The dog had only the silent empty countryside of the few houses. The dog had only the crumbs and bare bones he could pick up at the few houses. The dog had only himself, so the dog had nothing, and he was afraid.

Once he had a name. When he was still too young to be taken from the warmth and security of his mother, he had been carried away to a strange place to become the pet of two young children. The boy and girl named the little dog Candy, and after a few days he grew to love them. But in the middle part of the day, when the children were at school and he had no one to play with, Candy was lonely and frightened. Whenever he did something wrong, the children's mother came at him with a broom and he had to run to his corner by the stove. Even there he couldn't always escape her, and a broom came to be the most terrifying thing in life.

Then one day when the family took him for a ride in the country, a bad storm came up and the car broke down. In the confusion Candy was left behind. His life as a stray had begun.

In an exciting story told with great compassion and a deep understanding of both people and animals, the little dog eventually finds security and a warm companionship and mutual trust. The human characters who take part of obliquely revealed as they relate to the little dog, and, as the story evolves, a deeper meaning emerges and gives it striking universality.

The many lovely pen and ink drawings are by Maurice Sendak, the distinguished author and illustrator.

From the dust jacket