Stevenson was a celebrity when he was alive, but with the rise of modern literature in World War I, his works were classified as children's literature and horror novels. Stevenson was criticized by Virginia Woolf and Leonard Woolf, and he was gradually excluded from the literary classics taught by the school. This situation reached its peak in 1973, when Stevenson was completely ignored in the 2000-page Oxford Selected Works of English Literature. From 1968 to 2000, Stevenson was not mentioned in Norton's Selected Works of English Literature. Only the eighth edition in 2006 included him. In the late 20th century, Stevenson began to be re-evaluated as an artist, literary theorist, essayist and social critic with extraordinary insight, and was also regarded as a witness and anthropologist in the colonial history of the South Pacific. With the new academic research, he is considered as the same as Joseph Conrad and Henry James. Regardless of the academic reaction, Stevenson is still very popular. According to the data of the translation room index, Stevenson ranked 25th, ahead of Charles Dickens, Oscar Wilde and Poe.

Stevenson is one of the representatives of English neo-romantic literature and one of the most prolific writers. His romantic adventure novel is the most popular work in Britain since Sir Walter Scott was published. Treasure Island (1883) is a story about finding a pirate treasure. This is also one of his most popular romantic novels and English children's books. Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1886) is a satirical novel about the dual character of human beings, and it is also a suspense horror novel describing psychological activities. Children's Poetry Garden (1885) is a classic work. Stevenson proved himself to be a master of short stories in grotesque themes such as Markhan and Ugly Janet, tragic themes such as farris Beach and fantastic themes such as Doll the Monster. Stevenson is the first writer in the history of English literature to explore the genre of short stories. Before him, both Scott and Dickens thought that short stories were inferior to novels, so they were written as by-products of novels. His prose, travel notes and letters are beautiful, wise and knowledgeable. Stevenson's works made him very popular before his death, and he was praised by many writers, including Joseph Rudyard Kipling, Borges, Vladimir Nabokov, Hemingway and other literary masters. But after his death, his literary reputation began to decline, and later generations only thought that he was an outstanding children's story writer. Many modernist writers disagree with him, because Stevenson is very popular and his works do not meet their definition of literature. However, in the mid-20th century, critics made a new evaluation of his works, began to examine Stevenson and incorporated his works into western classics, and listed him as one of the greatest writers in the19th century.

Today, Stevenson's poetry garden for children is still a masterpiece among British children's books. Encyclopedia Britannica spoke highly of his children's poems as "unparalleled". His lyric poetry collection "The Bush" is also popular and well received.