In Search of El Pueblo Unido: Children’s Picture Books and Teaching about Community Anna Ochoa O’Leary Mexican American Studies and Research Center University of Arizona I received my training at the Bureau of Applied Research in Anthropology before earning my doctorate in cultural anthropology at the University of Arizona in 1999. The various research projects in which I participated in were within the Anthropology and Education program. The program pioneered research in multicultural education by developing the “funds of knowledge” approach where classrooms incorporate localized, bicultural forms of knowledge into the curriculum. Currently I hold an appointment at the University of Arizona in the Mexican-American Studies and Research Center where I teach and continue to be involved with education initiatives that help build partnerships between researchers and communities Abstract The social network concept has been amply validated as effective for strengthening ties between communities and schools and for improving educational outcomes. However, there appears to be a dearth of picture books that Latino children (K-6) might use that would enhance their understanding of social networks. I argue that by integrating social networks into classroom learning, cultural practices that Latino children are familiar with would be validated, and this would help defeat the process that has historically depreciated their culture. In keeping with the principles of multicultural education that seeks to improve academic achievement through the incorporation of meaningful subject matter, I review a short list of picture books that might provide a base around which the study of social networks might be organized for early primary grades. I also offer suggestions for thinking about why such an important feature of social organization has been historically disregarded. Recent efforts to develop a project in multicultural education led me into the area of Hispanic children’s literature. In particular was I interested how picture books for early primary grade readers might be used to complement a “funds of knowledge” approach in multicultural education. A “funds of knowledge” approach seeks to document and integrate community forms of knowledge into the curriculum (Moll, Amanti, Neff, & González, 1992; Vélez-Ibáñez & Greenberg, 1992). This approach has been used to make learning more meaningful for ethnic or language minority children. It also undermines the conventional use of more static cultural artifacts (e.g. folklore, music),“a relic to hang on the bulletin board” (Delgado-Gaitan, 2001, p. 147) to teach children about culture. It is my contention that social networks, a feature of social organization, are largely overlooked within multicultural education. By integrating social networks into content areas, cultural processes and ideologies that Latino children can identify with would be validated, and thus help countermand the historical depreciation of their culture. A social network can be described as a web-like system of relational ties between individuals and families that facilitate the procurement and exchange of resources. A sense of social solidarity promotes bonds of mutual trust between individuals that make resource exchange possible, and desirable. Resources can be of a material nature, such as goods, services, or information. They can also be of intangible character, such as advice and trust. The persistence of economic instability and poverty among Mexican- origin populations can be used to explain the presence and perseverance of social networks as a way of adapting to their economic and social environments, (Chavez, 1985; Keefe, 1980, Lomnitz, 1994a [1970], 1994a [1970]), Selby, Murphy, & Lorenzen, 1990). How Latinos overcome obstacles posed by poverty and discrimination must be seen as part of a more extensive system of human development, in which obstacles to education are also negotiated. In this paper I briefly summarize the importance of social networks to efforts to improve educational outcomes. However, while academics recognize the value of social networks to academic success, the lack of picture books that primary grade Latino children (K-6) might use to learn about them suggests that there may be a gap between academic knowledge and classroom practice. My search for resources in Latino children’s picture books resulted in a short list of books that I feel could be used to illustrate how social networks operate. These provide a foundation upon which classroom activities and the study of social