The relevance of the article reflects the social order for the preparation of students with formed stable family values. The goal is to study the opinions of students of the Russian Federation and the People’s Republic of China on issues of family education and the role of the family in the learning process, to show the ethnopedagogical potential of a fairy tale in family education. The objectives are to consider the results of a survey of students; to present a comparative analysis of Russian and Chinese fairy tales, to characterize the fairy tales of the northern peoples of Russia. Methods — questionnaire, analysis of psychological and pedagogical literature, generalization of practice. The fairy tale is characterized as a means of educational influence on the personality of a young person.