3 Best Sights in Amherst, Sturbridge and The Pioneer Valley

If you have kids in tow—or if you just love children's book illustrations—"the Carle" is a must-see. This light-filled museum celebrates and preserves not only the works of renowned children's book author Eric Carle, who penned The Very Hungry Caterpillar, but also original picture-book art by Maurice Sendak, William Steig, Chris Van Allsburg, and many others. Puppet shows and storytelling events are among the museum's ongoing programs. Children are invited to create their own works of art in the studio or read classics or discover new authors in the library.

The famed Amherst poet lived and wrote in this brick Federal-style home. Admission is by guided tour only, and to say that the tour guides are knowledgeable would be a massive understatement; the highlight of the tour is the sunlit bedroom where the poet wrote many of her works. Next door is The Evergreens, the imposing Italianate Victorian mansion in which Emily's brother Austin and his family resided for more than 50 years.

Founded in 1980, this nonprofit organization received a National Medal for Museum and Library Service for its role in preserving the Yiddish language and Jewish culture. The award recognized the center's rescue of more than a million Yiddish books that might otherwise have been lost. Housed in a cool, contemporary structure that mimics a traditional Eastern European shtetl, or village, the collection comprises more than 100,000 volumes. Special programs take place throughout the year. The biggest is Yidstock, a mid-July festival celebrating klezmer and other Jewish music.