  We study spatially homogeneous and isotropic solutions to the equations of
motion derived from dilaton gravity, in the presence of a special combination
of higher derivative terms in the gravitational action. All solutions are
nonsingular. For initial conditions resembling those in the pre-big-bang
scenario, there are solutions corresponding to a spatially flat, bouncing
Universe originating in a dilaton-dominated contracting phase and emerging as
an expanding Friedmann Universe.
