This study investigates the semantic functions of zoonyms—animal names—in children’s poetry across English, Uzbek, and Russian literary contexts. By analyzing a corpus of authentic poems, the research examines how zoonyms convey emotions, actions, and character traits that are comprehensible and engaging for young readers. Drawing on lexical semantics, cognitive semantics, and stylistic approaches, the study demonstrates that zoonyms function as multifunctional semantic tools, simultaneously expressing feelings, depicting movement, and representing personality traits. The findings reveal that animal imagery not only facilitates comprehension but also supports emotional literacy, inferential reasoning, and moral understanding in children. These results have pedagogical implications for educators and curriculum designers and contribute to cross-linguistic and ecolinguistic perspectives on children’s literature.

zoonyms, children’s poetry, semantics, cognitive linguistics, cross-linguistic analysis, literary education, animal symbolism

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