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Russell Freedman, Michael Dirda and E. L. Doctorow all cited Pease's stories as childhood influences. Reflected Dirda: "For a long period also I sought out the work of Howard Pease, old-fashioned nautical adventures teeming with frequent and arcane allusions to bilge, Lascars and fo'csles." Freedman, who won the Newbery Medal and valued realism and accuracy in children's writing, called Pease his "literary hero."

Pease was strongly critical of the 1930s world of children's literature (in which he worked) which he stated was a "wholly and solely a woman's world...a completely feminine world" subject to "tender-minded feminine control." Pease believed that this resulted in a paucity of male authors, depressed wages and a lack of realism in children's stories. Pease expounded these views in an address he delivered in 1939 at an American Library Association "pre-conference" moderated by Frances Clarke Sayers. While the audience of 400 female librarians concurred with Pease that the lack of male authors and of social realism was a problem, his overall misogynistic tone offended many and damaged his case. Nevertheless, Pease's speech provoked discussion in the field and led to, among other things, a review of the criteria by which the Newbery Medal winner was selected. Pease remained interested in the question of realism in children's literature and corresponded with other authors on the topic, including noted librarian Julia Lin Sauer. In a reversal, a modern critic took Pease to task for creating "traditional" male heroes who were "brave, clever and independent."

Pease's papers are held at the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California.