I loved the art. Was thrilled with 90% of the story line. Enjoyed the humor and the sibling squabbles. Was intrigued by the forbidden red door! Loved how the furniture 'came to life'.But hated that this book justifies lying. Literally the whole point of the book teaches that lying and breaking the rules is okay. I'm not kidding. One of the last pages says this, "Thank you," said Jenny. "You're welcome, " said Ian. "You lied for me, " said Jenny. "So?" said Ian. "So isn't that against the rules?"...

I'm a big fan of Mac Barnett, but the message of this picture book is that it's okay for a child to lie. Ian could have used ingenuity to help his sister instead. Also, the sister is downright mean to her own brother.

What a wonderful marriage of words and pictures in this book about an "up tight" brother and hang loose sister (who likes to pinch) and how they come together (and learn not to be "toadys"). The value of a toothbrush is not to be ignored either. Mac leaves plenty of room for the pictures to tell the tale and Matt Myers does just that, adding details in his illustrations that expand the story. Lots for brothers and sisters to see here and for all to enjoy. Is there a lesson? Sure there is but you...

Vibrant illustrations mask this imprudent promotion of bullying, lying, and general creepiness (the bear is simply grotesque, the bathtub nightmarish) in this farcical haunted house romp. Another example of shameless profiteering by the publisher, using the well-known names of the “New York Times best-selling” author and illustrator to sell this trifle.

Check out more Picture book reviews @ Perspective of a Writer...Ian is a great child who always follows the rules... but because this is such a crime a special house decides to teach him the BEST lesson... sisters who break the rules and pinch you shouldn't be expected to treat you decently... but YOU are expected to break your values to save them when they need it!!Obviously my story premise is in my own words. I thought this would teach my nephew about treating people's things with respect an

I love Mac, but I did not love this one as much as his others.maybe the nieces and nephews will disagree.

The rules of the house is an imaginative story about Ian a boy who always follows the rules and his sister Jenny who refuses to follow the rules. When a serious rule is broken, Ian must decide if he will break some rules to save his sister. This book started out well, but I didn't like the overall message of the book.

This is about a brother and sister who have different ideas about rules. The boy is a rule follower and the girl is a rule breaker. They find out the consequences of breaking the rules and discovered when it is ok to break them.

Sometimes, you have to break a rule in order to be a really good brother. I am gonna have nightmares about that monster bear-rug, though.

A creative and fun story - Mac Barnett and Matt Myers (who have worked together in the past) are a good match up!

So, as far as I can tell, the moral of this story is: be an anal little toady, follow the rules so hard you never have any fun... and then break them so you can save your annoying, helpless older sister.I don't really understand who this was supposed to appeal to. The pictures are really well done, but some of them are downright scary. The message that it's okay to lie isn't a great one for little kids, either. But the story is so juvenile that it probably won't appeal to older readers.What a we...

I typically love Barnett's stuff and was enjoying this until the end where the message seemed to be that it's okay for kids to lie sometimes. I'm not typically a rule-follower myself and there are so many other rules that have much less serious consequences if they're broken that Barnett could have used to illustrate the same point. What a bummer, because otherwise this is a super fun book.

This was SUCH a weird book but my kid LOVED it.Ian is a rule follower. Like, to the extreme. And his sister isn't, like to the point that she pinches him. So they're in this vacation house, the rules are posted, Ian thinks that's awesome, but his sister starts breaking the rules...so the house conspires to EAT her.Yep. Weird. But Ian stands up for his sister and they defeat the monsters together. Definitely weird, and maybe not my taste, and not designed for an adult wanting A Picture Book to Te...

Ian loves to follow the rules while his sister Jenny breaks all of them. So when they go on a trip with their father to a cabin in the woods, Ian loves that there is a list of rules on the wall. Jenny though, ignores the rules, breaking each one of them. The final rule is not to open the red door, which Jenny does. Nothing happens. Until later that night, when the mud-tracked bear rug, the dirty bathtub and the empty woodstove come into the children’s room. At first, Ian flees while his sister i...

Any sibling growing up in a family who is either a rule breaker, or rule follower will imagine this scary/funny title is written for them. The expressive animated acrylic illustrations bring naughty older sister Jenny, and little tattle tail brother Ian to life. On a vacation in a rustic log cabin the siblings read the sign stating the rules of the house: remove muddy shoes, don't leave a ring around the bathtub, replace used firewood, never, ever open the red door. Ian happily points to the rul...

Mac Barnett is a fantastic children's author in my opinion. His most recent book, Rules of the House, illustrated by frequent Barnett collaborator, Matt Myers, and published by Disney/Hyperion, has all the hallmarks of a story that could likely be in the animated featured film hopper - a story about sibling rivalry glazed with just enough horror story elements that keep kids on the edge of their seats, ending with a nifty, although predictable moral. As illustrated by Myers, the book already fee...

Ian loves to follow the rules while his sister Jenny does not. When they and their father go stay in a rustic cabin in the woods, there is a list of rules that Ian scrupulously obeys. Not Jenny, who one night breaks the last rule: “Never-Ever-Open the Red Door”. Nothing happened. Until that night. I loved this book! As a rule follower I have a lot of sympathy for Ian, and I appreciate how hard it was for him to break the rules, even to save his sister!

The bearskin rug monster is TERRIFYING. That will probably show up in one of my dreams in the very near future. Yikes. Other than that, this book is very Mac Barnett. Weird, funny, and a little unexpected at times.

What a fun and slightly creepy story!

Ian and his older sister Jenny find themselves confronting an unusual assortment of threatening creatures when they spend their vacation at a cabin in the woods in this humorous picture-book. As determined a rule-follower as Jenny is a determined rule-breaker, Ian observes all of the "rules of the house" posted by the cabin owner, while Jenny ignores them completely. When her actions in opening the red door - something forbidden by the final rule - cause the bearskin rug, claw-footed bathtub and...