Buzzy Brown
Buzzy Brown came home from town
As crazy as a loon,
He wore a purple overcoat
And sang a Sunday tune.
Buzzy Brown came home from town
As proud as he could be,
He found three doughnuts and a bun
A-growing on a tree.
First published in The Peter Patter Book of Nursery Rhymes (1918).
This rhyme is cheerful nonsense at its best — short, rhythmic, and just odd enough to make you smile. Buzzy Brown strolls home like a man who’s seen a miracle, wearing his purple coat and humming as if he owns the world. Jackson doesn’t explain anything, and that’s what makes it work.
You can almost picture Wright’s illustration: Buzzy in his bright coat, eyes wide, pointing to a tree full of doughnuts like it’s the most natural thing in the world. It’s silly, but it’s also full of that carefree delight that runs through so many of Jackson’s verses — a small-town dream dressed up as a poem.
Buzzy Brown feels like something a child might sing just to make others laugh — quick, funny, and gone in a flash.
