FAITH NEWS SERVICE – In a world where less and less children grow up with knowledge of the Bible, Australian author Di Hansen has written a powerful book to help change the narrative.

In Mr Wise and Mr Sandford and the Terrible Storm, Di, an Australian author based in Tasmania, re-creates the wonderful story of ‘The Wise and Foolish Builders’ that Jesus told in the Gospels, and specifically Matthew Chapter 7. While we all face trials and struggles, these can be a picture of life’s storms. Building our lives on Jesus’ words gives us a foundation that will uphold us in the midst of any hardship we may face.

That is a message that Di wants children to know, especially as the storms of life are inevitable for all of us. And when those storms hit, which they will, Di wants children to know that there is a solid rock on which they can stand.

Mr Wise and Mr Sandford and the Terrible Storm is a fun story depicting two characters. Both are wanting to build their dream homes on a sunny coastal inlet. Both choose the foundation on which they will build and the companies they wish to build their homes. When a big storm suddenly hits, we see how wise their choices are.

One house stands another comes crashing down.

“I was inspired to write this book because children grasp readily biblical principles that are in illustrated story form,” Di states.

A mother of three sons and wife to her husband, Peter, Di was not brought up in a Christian home. She first learnt about Jesus in a Catholic primary school she attended, before becoming a born-again Christian as a teenager.

“I was brought up by my Dad so it was not a conventional family unit, especially for that time period,” she said. “I attended YWAM as a young adult and went on to study at the University of Hawaii in my early twenties. I achieved my nursing diploma and still work as a community nurse today.”

This is Di’s second book. Her first children’s book, The Wide Road, is also based on another Gospel story in Matthew 7: the Narrow Way.

In Mr Wise and Mr Sandford and the Terrible Storm, the seaside illustrations are fun and colourful, and the story culminates with a dramatic rescue at sea for one of the characters. Great for Sunday school lessons, or a bedtime story with great talking points and opportunities for discussion, this book will help children learn from a young age that there is safety when they are under the covering of their Creator.

Mr Wise and Mr Sandford and the Terrible Storm, published by Ark House, is now available globally.