From a new author-illustrator, the adventures of a fox who is appointed postmaster general as a reward for his exploits delivering messages during the war between the Kingdom of Coralville and the Emperor Benedict of Wedlock. When King and council draft Frederick as messenger, he finds his first journey to the battlefield easy since no one suspects him. On the second trip, though, he must outrun ten ""secret agents""--hounds. On his final mission, the hounds are joined by horses, but Frederick escapes into a coat store and travels toward his destination disguised as a fur piece around a shopper's neck, delivering a message that clinches victory. While Miller's boldly stylized illustrations--with flat areas of bright, harmonious colors and a perky if oddly proportioned fox-may hold some aesthetic interest for adults, this pointless, one-dimensional narrative will hold little interest for children.