There have been a great many good and varied textbooks in the history of education. For example, there was L.F. Magnitskii's "Arithmetic," L.N. Tolstoy's "Primer," and the Bible, which can also be thought of as a textbook. None of them is like the others at all. Each one is suitable for dealing with its own objectives in the framework of its own philosophical, methodological, and pedagogical paradigm. Does this conclusion apply to the planning and designing of a textbook? Is it possible to work out a unified theory of the textbook that takes into account all the changes that may be going on and, on the basis of the patterns that are discerned, shows an optimal approach for all new authors of textbooks? This article discusses three approaches to the theory and practice of textbook creation: (1) adding to and perfecting familiar theoretical postulates concerning textbooks, amending existing textbooks on this basis, and adapting textbooks to meet current conditions and objectives; (2) formulating a theory of a textbook that is best for the present moment; and (3) giving up on any general theory of the textbook and developing textbooks that are firmly based in particular educational conceptions, each one of which imposes its own requirements on them.