Once upon a time, there was a piece of wood. Stories of men and trees of the Val d’Orcia The trees, the small shrubs, the plants on one side, and the people of the Val d’Orcia on the other, become the intertwining elements of the work. The Val d’Orcia is a plurality of environments, and we have tried to divide them into four macro-areas: the river, the link between the valley; the mountain that protects it; the Mediterranean scrub forest that colors it; the agricultural hills; and the badlands and biancane (white cliffs) that distinguish it. For each environment, the plants that most characterize it have been identified, describing their main features in a simple way. In the second part, the country dictionary describes objects made from wood and the different ways of using plants. The final part of the volume offers educational material and games, with the aim of bringing the old activities of grandparents closer to the curiosities of grandchildren.