I spent a summer in high school giving tours of the Mark Twain House in Hartford. True to the author’s spirit, the tours were filled with entertaining anecdotes about him and his family. For a young, aspiring writer, nothing could top the mystique of the third-floor billiard room where Twain worked on many of his most famous manuscripts. The humor in the stenciled balls and cues on the ceiling didn’t hurt, either.
With its rich history, New England gives children ample opportunity to step back in time, to explore the lives of famous people, places, and eras. Across the region, kids can interact with the past in a variety of ways, whether touring a living history museum, climbing into caves left by glaciers, riding an antique carousel, or tasting traditionally harvested maple syrup.

BY SHIRA SPRINGER, GLOBE STAFF