Sierra

Like Siebert and Minor's two previous collaborations, Mojave and Heartland , this handsome volume celebrates nature with awe and respect--here the Sierra Nevada mountain range, which stands ``Tall and grand / . . . like a sentinel'' in the West. Siebert's tone is stately and Whitmanesque as she catalogues the history and vastness of the Sierras: ``I am the mountain. / Come and know / Of how, ten million years ago, / Great forces, moving plates of earth, / Brought, to an ancient land, rebirth.'' Minor's impressive paintings are a tribute to the beauty and interrelation of the creatures that inhabit these mountains--from the sequoias that have ``watched three thousand years go by'' to the animals that ``keep the balance on the land.'' The poem ends with a timely warning: ``And what my course of life will be / Depends on how man cares for me.'' Its jacket carrying an endorsement by the director of the Sierra Club, the book will appeal especially to those interested in environmental preservation. Ages 4-8. (Mar.)