Introduction. The article deals with the actual problem of modern pedagogical science – the formation and de-velopment of the national educational book as a historical and pedagogical phenomenon, which reflected the educational component of ethnic culture and determined the modern civilized development of non-Russian peoples of Russia and their ways of familiarizing with the achievements of Russian and universal cultural values. The objective: to conduct a systematic analysis of the national educational book as a phenomenon of material and spiritual culture of the Mari people. Materials and methods. As the main material are the initial educational books for joint training of Mari and Russian children, compiled by the educator of the Mari people P. P. Eruslanov at the end of the XIX century, as well as textbooks “Children's world” and “Native word” by K. D. Ushinsky and “Alphabet” and “New alphabet” by L. N. Tolstoy. The research is based on comparative-historical, cultural-historical, sociological methods and retrospective analysis of the traditional experience of creating a textbook. Results. The legacy of P. P. Yeruslanov in this field is theoretically comprehended, the conceptual foundations of his textbooks are revealed as a source of information about the national and educational policies of the Russian state and the socio-cultural life of the Mari people. His textbooks embodied the advanced methodological ideas of classics of pedagogy K. D. Ushinsky and L. N. Tolstoy: compliance of educational materials with the basic didactic principles of accessibility and consciousness, continuity in learning, the relationship of learning with life, taking into account the psychological characteristics of children, the development of creative abilities and independence, emotional-figurative and abstract-logical thinking of students. The reading texts corresponded to the principles of upbringing education, contained the ideas of humanism, contributed to the development of such children’s qualities as kindness, diligence, honesty, love of nature and native land. Conclusion. In this regard, the educational books of the Mari educator P. P. Eruslanov are of interest as a historical and cultural heritage, and at the same time as the most valuable experience of creating textbooks for the national school at the present stage. Keywords: Mari educator, classics of education, national educational book, conceptual framework.