The Children of Sanchez (book)  The Children of Sanchez is a 1961 book by American anthropologist Oscar Lewis about a Mexican family living in the Mexico City slum of Tepito, which he studied as part of his program to develop his concept of culture of poverty. Due to criticisms expressed by members of the family regarding the Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI) government and Mexican presidents such as Adolfo Ruiz Cortines and Adolfo López Mateos, and its being written by a foreigner, the book was banned in Mexico for a few years before pressure from literary figures resulted in its publication. Jesús Sánchez, age fifty, is the father, and his four children are Manuel, age thirty-two; Roberto, twenty-nine; Consuelo, twenty-seven; and Marta, twenty-five. A film based on the book and with the same title was directed by Hall Bartlett and was released in 1979. It stars Anthony Quinn as Jesús Sánchez.