To honor the fiftieth anniversary of the publication of Louise M. Rosenblatt's book "Literature as Exploration," this book offers 12 essays that demonstrate the extraordinary influence of Rosenblatt's work on the teaching of literature, on literary theory, and on educational research in all English-speaking countries. Further, it evinces the power of a point of view that embraces both the reader and the literary work while focusing on the transaction between the two. The book contains the following articles: "Fifty Years of Exploring Children's Books" (Rudine Sims Bishop); "Fifty Years of Literature for Young Adults" (Kenneth Donelson); "Students Exploring Literature across the World (John Dixon); "'Literature as Exploration' and the Classroom" (Robert E. Probst); "The California Literature Project" (Mary A. Barr); "Exploring a Poem" (Stephen Dunning); "Fostering Literary Understanding: The State of the Schools" (Arthur N. Applebee); "New Directions in Research on Response to Literature" (Richard Beach); "Can Literature Be Rescued from Reading?" (Alan C. Purves); "Retrospect" (Louise Rosenblatt); "Materials and Approaches to Literature Instruction" (James Bradley); and "Research on Response to Literature" (Richard Beach and Susan Hynds). The last two selections are annotated bibliographies. (SR)