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Segment Information - Schedule of segment reporting information (Details) $ in Millions	3 Months Ended
	Aug. 31, 2021 USD ($) segment	Aug. 31, 2020 USD ($)	May 31, 2021 USD ($)	May 31, 2020 USD ($)
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Number of reportable segments \| segment	3
Revenues	$ 259.8	$ 215.2
Bad debt expense	1.6	1.4
Segment operating income (loss)	(32.0)	(57.0)
Goodwill	$ 125.9	125.6	$ 126.3	$ 124.9
Children's Book Publishing and Distribution
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Number of operating segments \| segment	3
Revenues	$ 115.8	92.3
Education
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Number of operating segments \| segment	1
Revenues	$ 80.1	53.6
International
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Number of operating segments \| segment	3
Revenues	$ 63.9	69.3
Operating Segments \| Children's Book Publishing and Distribution
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Segment operating income (loss)	(21.7)	(29.0)
Operating Segments \| Education
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Segment operating income (loss)	7.3	(2.4)
Operating Segments \| Overhead
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Segment operating income (loss)	(15.9)	(30.4)
Operating Segments \| International
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Segment operating income (loss)	$ (1.7)	$ 4.8