Lone Pine students Reed Perlman (front), Lauren Tamapol and David Lux enjoy a reading workshop hosted by illustrator Darrin Brege (below, left) and his wife, author Karen Bell-Brege (below, right).  Facing page:  Darrin and Karen write books for kids, including the Ghost Board Posse series.

Around 200 pairs of eyes watch in suspense as the monstrous hand flares up behind the fleeing earthling, closing in for a squeeze.  Marker blazing, local illustrator Darrin Brege truns his sketch into a motion picture for sever cheering classes one afternoon in April at Bloomfield School's Lone Pine Elementary.
  Brege and his wife, author Karen Bell-Brege, are the creators of books for children and young teens, including the Mick Morris Myth Solver mystery series and Ghost Board Posse #1 London Screaming, which follow ghost hunting skateboarders through a haunted English castle.
  The couple have spurred students at 200 area schools to consider how to apply creativity and strong reading skills to their future endeavors, Bell-Brege says.  Laughter facilitates learning 100%, she adds.
  "That's why we have so much humor in our programs, I think," she says.  "We found that adults and children retain it [the lessons] because they're having fun.  And they don't even realize they're being taught at the same time."
  Bloomfield Hills resident Kismet Kumar, 11, says the presentation was very entertaining and educational.
  "I love the drawings.  I'm pretty sure I'll be using [drawing] for the future," the sixth-grader says.  "When I grow up, I'm thinking of being an ophthalmologist.  Sometimes eye doctors have to draw wht they see in my eyes, so I think that could help me."
  The Breges, who also are voiceover artists and do comedic impersonations on the Stoney and Wojo show on WDFN am1130, hook student audiences from the start with spot-on impressions of pop-culture luminaries, such as Homer and Marge Simpson, and zany chatter about alien cows and gremlins.
  "you cant be teaching if you don't have a sense of humor, I honestly believe," says Royal Oak resident Kathy Kirkwood, a fifth-grade teacher at Lone Pine.  "Studies have shown that learning has to be in an engaging, positive environment, and what's more positive than laughing and having fun in the classroom?"
  While cloaked in comedy, the message the Breges bring to students still rings clear - no matter what, anything is possible with enough practice. 
  Brege says that while growing up, "I would have given anthing for someone to say, 'Do your Goofy voices.  If you love to do them, you can make a career out of it.'"