It's the Spring of 1936 and 8-year-old Moncho is going to school for the first time to learn reading, poetry and arithmetic -- until the Spanish Civil War breaks out and teaches him harsh lessons about the violence and inhumanity of war. This brutal world that emerges is in stark contrast to the idyllic, nature-filled world celebrated by Don Gregorio, Moncho's friend in their once-idyllic village.