The public and academic debate about mathematical education has been intensified during the last decade. In relation to this it is important to investigate what ideas concerning mathematical education that are expressed by teachers and students. The aim of this article is to study repertoires and discourses related to mathematics education articulated by teachers and students in elementary school. The article is part of a larger project about mathematical education. Data consists of group conversations with 120 students and 8 teachers in two elementary schools in Sweden. The math project was supported by the National Agency for Education 2010-2012. All together 17 hours of video and audio documentation were produced. The theoretical framework is built on poststructuralist and social constructionist theory and two approaches to discourse analysis are applied; the micro oriented discursive psychology and discourse theory as formulated by Laclau and Mouffe. Findings show that the math book is central in the construction of the “good” mathematical education and can be seen as an ideological dilemma. On the one hand, the book becomes a symbol for security and support and is articulated as something associated with traditional and abstract mathematical education. The book becomes the home of mathematics, with power effects in the classroom activities. The book decides who is smart and who is not; it decides who needs help and when to wait for help. On the other hand, the ‘good’ mathematic education is excluding the math book. It is practical and built on students’ participation and delight at the same time as it is structured around the norms of the book. The results are discussed in relation to quality in mathematical education.