The book is dedicated to the Tatar primer "Alifba" as a unique monument of history and culture. The main attention is paid to publications of the late XIX - early XXI centuries, functioning in the cultural space of the Kazan province, Soviet Tatarstan, post-Soviet Tatarstan. They are exponents of the spirit of their time, carriers of valuable information about the past and present of the Tatar people. The monograph examines the results and ways of reflecting in the texts and illustrations of primers those socio-political and socio-cultural transformations that took place in imperial, Soviet and post-Soviet Russia and in Tatarstan during the period under review, there are changes in ideas about childhood and children and their role and place in a large, "adult" world. The results of the study, in addition to scientific and educational, are also of applied importance in the practice of preparing a new generation of textbooks for elementary school.