It won the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award in 1969 and was one of the final recipients of the Lewis Carroll Shelf Award in 1979. Margaret Atwood called it one of the "wellsprings" of fantasy literature.
This book received recognition from both the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award in 1969 and the Lewis Carroll Shelf Award in 1979, with Margaret Atwood recognizing its significance as a source of inspiration for fantasy literature.