Input-to-state stability (ISS) of a parameterized family of discrete-time time-varying nonlinear systems is investigated. A converse Lyapunov theorem for such systems is developed. We consider parameterized families of discrete-time systems and concentrate on a semiglobal practical type of stability that naturally arises when an approximate discrete-time model is used to design a controller for a sampled-data system. An application of our main result to time-varying periodic systems is presented, and this is used to solve a robust stabilization problem, namely to design a control law for systems in power form yielding semiglobal practical ISS (SP-ISS). (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.