The King with Dirty Feet by Sally Pomme Clayton illustrated by Rhiannon Sanderson

Blurb from the illustrator web page: There once was a king who hated bath time so much that he never washed. He was a very smelly king! The king finally consents to bathe in the river but no matter how clean he is, his feet stay dirty. The people sweep away all the dirt in the land - but the air is choked with dust. The dust gets washed away but now the land is flooded with water. An enormous tapestry is sewn to cover the whole kingdom but now nothing will grow on the land... What is to be done?

This book would be a wonderful read aloud for Grade One or Two in your school library and it is available in paperback for a good price.  After reading The King with Dirty Feet you could explore folktales from around the world. I found this book yesterday in a display for Diwali - the wonderful Teacher-Librarian displayed a big selection of stories from India. 

Here is her list of Indian folktales:

• The Elephant's Friend by Marcia Williams

• The Old Woman and the Red Pumpkin by Betsy Bang

• No Dinner! by Jessica Souhami

• Grandma and the Great Gourd by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni

• Monkey by Gerald McDermott

• The Monkey and the Crocodile by Paul Galdone

• Seven Blind Mice by Ed Young

• Under the Great Plum Tree by Sufiya Ahmed

• Once a Mouse... by Marcia Brown

• Pattan's Pumpkin by Chitra Soundar

• The Elephant's Garden by Jane Ray

• Jamil's Clever Cat by Fiona French

• Manu and the Talking Fish by Roberta Arenson

• The Tiger Child by Joanna Troughton

My friend from Kinderbookswitheverything has a number of useful Pinterest collections:

• Pourquoi Stories
• India
• Middle Eastern Picture Books
• Asian Stories and Folktales

Image Source: Rhi Sanderson

Here is the webpage for the illustrator Rhiannon Sanderson. The King with Dirty Feet is listed for the NSW Premier's Reading Challenge K-2. Here is a teacher activity set from the publisher. IBBY UK have penned a review. 

This new version of an old story is brought to life by an acclaimed storyteller so it is easy to hear yourself reading it aloud to a captivated audience while the colourful, detailed illustrations  show a different kind of king and kingdom to challenge the stereotype. The Bottom Shelf

There’s something comforting and timeless about folktales; I love the pure simplicity of the storytelling, while the deeper meanings and lessons within the narrative are always quite profound. Folktales are not only a wonderful way to teach life lessons, but they are fabulously entertaining and a sure-fire way to ignite a love of stories in young children. Reading Time

Companion book - not a folktale and not about shoes but instead this is about not taking a bath!:

This book might also be in your library: