[2] The lyrics for "Puff, the Magic Dragon" are based on a 1959 poem by Leonard Lipton, then a 19-year-old Cornell University student.

[3][4][5] The song tells the story of an immortal dragon named Puff and his playmate, Jackie Paper, as they embark on adventures in the fictional county of Honalee.

[4] Cash Box described it as "a charming folk tune, about a magic dragon, right-up-the-vocal-alley of the remarkably successful folksters.

During the autumn of 1966, Swedish pop band Fabulous Four, which included Lalla Hansson recorded the song; the session was produced by keyboardist Benny Andersson,[32][33][better source needed] later of ABBA fame.

It debuted at number one on Tio i Topp on November 26, 1966, staying there for three consecutive weeks before being replaced by Donovan's "Mellow Yellow".

[38] In September 1979, a picture-book based on the animated feature, written by Romeo Muller, known for his contributions to the Rankin-Bass holiday TV specials, was published by Avon Books.

[40] A 2007 book adaptation of the song's lyrics by Yarrow, Lipton, and illustrator Eric Puybaret gives the story a happier ending with a young girl (presumed by reviewers to be Jackie Paper's daughter)[41] seeking out Puff to become her new companion.

The lyrics remain unchanged from the Peter, Paul, and Mary version; the young girl is only seen in the pictures by illustrator Puybaret.

The tune was used by Versatec, a computer printer company, in the promotional LP Push the Magic Button for the song of the same name.

[43] In the mid 1970s, an American Jewish band named Ruach created a parody version of the song entitled "Puff the Kosher Dragon".

Both tune and elements of the lyrics were adapted in the controversial parody "Barack the Magic Negro", written and recorded by Paul Shanklin for Rush Limbaugh's radio program, after the term was first applied to then presidential candidate Barack Obama by movie and culture critic David Ehrenstein.

In a Los Angeles Times op-ed column of March 19, 2007, Yarrow condemned the act as "shocking and saddening in the extreme," stating that "taking a children's song and twisting it in such vulgar, mean-spirited way, is a slur to our entire country and our common agreement to move beyond racism… It is almost unimaginable to me that Chip Saltzman, who sent the CD [as a Christmas greeting to NRC members], would seriously be considered for the top post of the Republican National Committee.

[47] Robert Mason's Chickenhawk states, in reference to the Peter, Paul, and Mary song playing on a turntable: "'Puff the Magic Dragon' was making me uncomfortable.