Among my favorite side-bars is the story of Laura Olsher. Subtitled “Laura Olsher: Chilling, Thrilling Sounds�?, this brief bio of a fascinating and accomplished writer and voice actor supplements a chapter that recounts how Ms. Olsher ended up almost accidentally recording one of the best selling children’s records of all time.

Even better is what comes next, as the book notes that many of the selected sounds were originally recorded for cartoons, and when taken out of context stand on their own as bone-chilling rather than funny-bone tickling as originally intended.

From start to finish, the book has countless such stories to tell, and introduces plenty of familiar players, including Annette and the Sherman Brothers, but what makes it new is learning to what extent their contribution to Disneyland Records influenced the perception of Disney after the lights came up in the theatre, and how it really was much more than we’ve previously understood or appreciated. I dare even the most informed Mouseophile not to find dozens of anecdotes and new stories here that will have you saying “really!? Well, who knew!�?

But it’s more than that, so much more, and this is where being willing to turn this delightful read into a sort of field-guide to the flea-market can extend the shelf life of its 192 pages (sans the index.) By yourself or with your family you can milk much more magic from the $25 investment (the one draw-back to being published by a University press is a steeper cover price – but well worth it this one time.) I urge you to search out these records, either by visiting your attic or sorting through every church sale between now and Labor Day, and making them an active part of how you go about working your way from chapter to chapter. Some records are very rare, and unlikely to be found for any price let alone for a bargain, but many of them are easily located if you’re diligent, and it’s worth every scraped together jar of pennies to hunt them down and bring them home where the real intent of this book can be savored on your turntable.

Step one is to dust off the old record-player or, if your or your family embraced the age of discs and mp3s with house-cleaning zeal you’ll need to make your way to a Good Will or Out of the Closet or other such thrift store and root around to find a solid working platter-spinner. Make sure to add speakers to the mix. All told, with some effort you should be able to come away with a suitable set-up for under $20. If you can’t find anything at the thrift stores then either the Sunday classifieds or a quick log-on to Craig’s List should prove very helpful. The ideal set up is a portable record player, and if you find an inexpensive one that works then thank your lucky stars and try not to look like you found a copy of the Declaration of Independence while standing in line at the check-out.

Step two: browse the excellently appendix of Grammy nominated and award winning albums (we’re still using that term, aren’t we?) in the back of the book. It’s a great way to start you on your search for the records that will make this reading experience all the more rewarding. Although the one glaring omission from the book is a solid discography of the Disneyland Records label, and I’m baffled why the authors didn’t include it, the book itself still gives plenty of suggested listening along the way and if you keep a notebook handy you can jot down titles as you read.

Take your time with the book, enjoy its anecdotes and insights, and be willing to put it down long enough to make the effort to find at least a half-dozen of the referenced recordings and fall back into the age of head-phone free stereophonic room-filling fantasy that had Tinkerbell jingling as our signal to turn the page. Then, grab a tall frosty mug of your favorite soda (or pop or soft-drink…choose your region), roll out your beach towel, slather on the sunscreen (Al Gore recommends at least and SPF of 25 this summer) and settle in for a read-along/listen-along journey back in time that makes this the best Disney related publication in recent memory.

MOUSE TRACKS: The Story of Walt Disney Records by Tim Hollis and Greg Ehrbar; University Press of Mississippi; paper - $25.00 Available at booksellers and online including at The LaughingPlace Store.