Filmmaker, author, and lifelong explorer Peter Dietrich has spent decades documenting the world—from the shifting sands of the Sahara to the winding alleys of Bulgaria. But it was the enforced lockdown that brought him back to the beginning—to Abington Park in Northampton, the landscape of his childhood and, now, the inspiration behind his latest creative adventure: a children’s book titled Flossy & the Tiger.
Listen to Peter’s interview here.
The Playground of His Youth
I grew up in Abington Park between the ages of five and ten. It was my playground.
In those days, kids left the house at eight in the morning, playing outside and came back at five. No one worried. It was a time of freedom. And I’ve tried to recapture that in this story—for today’s children, who don’t have such privileges.”
Lockdown Sparks a New Chapter
Like many creatives, Peter found the quiet and uncertainty of lockdown a surprising spark. “I went from globetrotting to literally exploring my kitchen,” he laughs. “And Abington Park.”
It was during one of these local walks that he stumbled upon a stuffed tiger lying abandoned on the street outside his house – right across the road from the park.
That odd little encounter became the seed of his first children’s photographic storybook The Tiger in the Park—a well-received project that he later adapted into a musical.
Four Walls Do Not a Dungeon Make
Original Artwork to Feature in Book
Now, he’s revisiting that magical premise and expanding it into Flossy & the Tiger.
“Flossy is a wild twelve-year-old girl who adores nature and spends all her spare time in the park,” Peter explains. “One day, while exploring the spinney, she finds a tiger. Instead of running, she befriends him. They explore the park before visitors arrive, hide out in his secret den, and get to know each other.”
Bringing the story to life is illustrator Fiona Jenney, a young artist from Rushden whose detailed and imaginative artwork is shaping the visual world of Flossy and her striped friend. “She’s done around 12 illustrations so far,” says Peter. “They’re beautiful, and she’s taking her time—she wants them to be just right.”
A launch and exhibition of the original artwork is planned for this September, possibly at Northampton Museum.
Though he’s known for his films and photographic storytelling, Peter’s writing roots run deep. “I’ve been writing since I was 14. My first novel was written in the Northampton Reference Library,” he chuckles. “It was terrible, but it was a start.”
Over the years, Peter has turned his lens and pen toward poetry, photojournalism, and filmmaking. His YouTube channel hosts a range of his work—from travel films to personal reflections.
From Morocco to Northampton – And Back Again
His creative journey began in earnest in the 1970s when, newly divorced, he left England to roam. “I first went to Morocco—just in time for the Green March into the Sahara. I took photographs, joined a Paris photo agency, and suddenly I was a photo-reporter. That was the beginning.”
That hunger for documenting life and learning languages took him across Portugal, Spain, and beyond. But these days, it’s the rhythms of the local that speak loudest. He recently published Four Seasons in Abington Park, a photographic album that captures the park’s beauty throughout the year.
Now, with Flossy & the Tiger, Peter Dietrich circles back to where it all began—blending memory, magic, and imagination in a tale for the next generation. “It’s about wonder,” he says. “And the places we carry with us.”
Watch and listen to chapter One of Flossy & the Tiger
Read Chapter One of Flossy & the Tiger
The Morning Flossy Met the Tiger
Flossy had become as much a fixture of the park as were all the trees and the many different creatures that lived there. She could be seen skipping and dancing barefoot across the grassy slopes, with bunches of wildflowers and twigs and leaves cradled in her arms and tangled in her long, bushy hair, and a look of constant wonder in her smiling eyes. Sometimes her joy grew so big it spilled out of her in a torrent of words she couldn’t control, even had she wanted to.
“A lake as gorgeous as a birthday cake! Trees everywhere smiling down at me! Swans and ducks greeting me with their funny clucks! And was any grass ever greener, even in dreams…?”
She was one of those children it’s almost impossible to put an exact age to; she could have been any age between eight and eighty, depending on her moods and feelings of the day. Most people guessed she was about eleven or twelve, still a child so not yet grown up, although even that was open to discussion. Whatever, she was simply Flossy, and you had to take her as she came. Or how she cried out loud now and again:
“Oh, what a ringing, singing, dinging world…I can feel a rainbow glowing in my heart, and every tree looks like a poem waiting to be written and then shouted out aloud! And who knows what hidden treasures are waiting to be found in every shady corner of my park? I really feel alive on such a lovely day!”
That then is a quick portrait of Flossy, a charming snippet of a young wild girl about to become the heroine of this story, although she doesn’t know it yet. She will discover treasures and secrets she could never imagine, as well as having wild adventures that would shake up and brighten the life of any child.
It began one bright morning when she went to the spinney at the far end of the lake. She hadn’t noticed the many curious pairs of eyes that stared out at her from the shady darkness; eyes that watched her every move, while listening to her every word as she entered the leafy copse.
Illustrations by Fiona Jenney
She was greeted by a bevy of birdsong, with the occasional squirrel staring beseechingly at her with wide-open eyes, hoping for a few nuts. She usually carried a bag of nuts with her to give to them. But on that morning, she simply felt the need to lose herself for a while in the semi-dark and shady atmosphere of the spinney, gazing lovingly at the trees and bushes that were so familiar to her.
“It always feels like there’s something mysterious in here, a sort of light that’s not quite lit but not quite out, either. A place for secret meetings and fairy dances, and magical spells in the moonlight, when the rest of the world is fast asleep. A place for dreams to be born and then come true…”
She strolled around, hugging and talking to her favourite trees, caressing and smelling all the wildflowers, and mimicking the many different birdsongs which she knew by heart, having listened to them so many times while growing up in this place.
Wandering ever deeper into the heart of the spinney, she stopped in front of a thicket. She thought she’d heard a growling noise coming from somewhere deep inside it. She also noticed that the birds had suddenly stopped singing.
“Am I imagining things, or did I really hear that noise just now?”
Her curiosity aroused, she stood listening for a few moments. She heard a soft rustling coming from inside the thicket, and then another muted growl reached her ears.
“Well, there’s definitely something in there, but what can it be? I’ve never heard a squirrel growl like that before, nor any croaky frog, and if it was a stray dog I think it would just bark at me. It does feel like something’s watching me right now though, so maybe I should take a closer look…”
She edged forward, a little hesitant and half-afraid, but also with an air of defiance about her. Shading her eyes, she peered into the thicket again.
“Ha, I knew it! There is something in there, and it’s staring right at me while I’m looking at it! I can see a pair of eyes watching me…big green eyes, wide open…well, Mr. or Mrs. Green-eyes, I know how to stare hard like that as well, don’t you know? Just watch me!”
A few minutes passed in that manner, with Flossy staring hard into the thicket, slowly moving closer but with caution. Then she heard another muffled growl, followed by a soft purring noise. She felt relieved.
“Ah, I think you’re just a cat then, eh, purring away like that? But I do like cats, so you needn’t be frightened of me. I’ve got a cat at home, actually. His name’s Mogsbane, and he’s black all over with big green eyes just like yours, so you shouldn’t feel shy of me. My name’s Flossy, by the way, if you were wondering, and I really don’t mind if you want to show yourself now. I’m not in the least dangerous, I promise, so won’t you come out? Come on, puss, puss, puss…”
She gestured with a hand and repeated her welcoming call, feeling a lot more at ease now. But she wasn’t at all expecting what happened next.
Because a huge tiger’s head suddenly thrust itself out from the thicket, its mouth wide open to display a pair of glistening and very sharp-looking fangs. At the same time, it released an ear-shattering roar that made Flossy cry out in alarm and fall abruptly onto her bottom, overcome with surprise. She did manage to let out a soft scream then, but more from astonishment than actual terror.
“Aieeeee….!”
“Well, that’s just fantastic! I thought you might be a cat and maybe a bit wild, but well, blow me down, I never imagined you’d be a big one like a blooming stripey tiger!”
The tiger stared hard at the girl and growled softly, almost affectionately, or so she imagined, as she sat slumped where she’d fallen, lost now in wonder and total amazement.
“I just hope you’re not very hungry, that’s all. But who would have imagined finding a tiger in the park, eh? No-one would believe me if I told them, that’s for sure. A real tiger in the park, right here in the middle of the spinney! And it’s me who’s found you…”
The tiger wrinkled his eyes and growled softly again as she sat there smiling up at him, looking quite unafraid now, despite the unusual situation.
“Well, hello, Mr. Tiger. I’m Flossy, a girl, and some people say I’m a bit wild as well, but I’m not, not really. At least not very much. And I’m really very pleased to meet you here like this…at least I think I am…”
The tiger appeared to smile back at her then before throwing back its head and releasing an even louder roar. She wanted to believe it was for her benefit. She smiled warmly back at him.
“Good morning, Flossy!” the tiger replied then, much to her total astonishment – could tigers actually speak? “I’m also very pleased to meet you here like this…”
And that’s how Flossy came to meet a tiger in the spinney, in the park, early one morning, and quite unexpectedly, although she felt certain from the start that it was somehow meant to be. She still hadn’t noticed the many hidden eyes that were watching all this with an ever-growing interest.
Flossy & the Tiger will be available in September 2025.
Catch up with Peter’s latest ventures on his You Tube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXg_uSj4-h19ohq7qaTSNxQ/about