This article comments on mathematics textbooks for lower secondary schools. Authors do not focus on texts in the books but on the nonverbal elements instead. A possible system of categories which enables mapping and classifying of such elements is suggested in this article. As a result of that, it is possible to evaluate and compare the textbooks which the authors have analysed. A pilot research of putting this evaluation system in use is also described in the article. The research ascertains whether the system of categories is useable to obtain sets of nonverbal elements suitable for further analysis.