University of Kurdistan Critical Literary Studies 2676-699X 8 2 2026 04 19 Moral-Educational Teachings and the Issue of Cognitive and Emotional Standards in Children's Poetry: The Case Study of Latif Halmat’s Children Poems 91 113 64430 10.22034/cls.2026.64430 EN Fardin Hosseinpanahi Assistant Professor, Department of Persian Language and Literature, University of Kurdistan, Sanandaj, Iran. Arash Mehraban MA in Persian Language and Literature, University of Zabol, Zabol, Iran. Journal Article 2025 11 26 Children’s poetry, as a foundational component of children's literature, plays a significant role in conveying moral and educational teachings. However, the effectiveness of these teachings depends on their alignment with the cognitive and emotional capacities of the child audience. Neglecting such standards not only disrupts the communication process between the poem and the child reader but also undermines the primary aim of conveying ethical and educational teachings. Latif Halmat, a prominent poet of children’s poetry in Kurdish literature, pays particular attention to expressing and conveying moral and educational teachings in his poems. In the present research, we critically examine the children’s poetry of Latif Halmat, relying on the emotional and cognitive criteria and components within children’s literature and the extent to which the cognitive, emotional, and narrative components of his poems align with the cognitive and emotional developmental criteria of child audiences is critically examined. The findings indicate that while Halmat is notably attentive to developing educational themes—addressing issues such as environmental ethics, individual and social values, and literacy— his poems often fall short in several areas: incorporating children’s lived experiences, aligning with their cognitive and emotional development, maintaining an appropriate narrative structure, and avoiding a sermon-like tone. https://cls.uok.ac.ir/article_64430_dda3b2b467e9d56ae92c27d6259d3133.pdf