Segment Information (Details) - Schedule of segment reporting information (USD $) In Millions, unless otherwise specified	12 Months Ended
	May 31, 2013		May 31, 2012		May 31, 2011
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenues	$ 1,792.4		$ 2,139.1		$ 1,877.6
Bad debt expense	6.8		12.3		13.6
Depreciation and amortization	66.5	[1]	68.8	[1]	60.1	[1]
Amortization	48.9	[2]	55.1	[2]	51.1	[2]
Loss on leases and asset impairments	0		7.0		3.4
Segment operating income (loss)	67.9		185.3		103.7
Segment assets	1,440.6		1,662.6		1,476.5
Goodwill	157.9		157.7		154.2
Expenditures for long-lived assets including royalty advances	153.9		145.9		162.7
Long-lived assets	689.7		684.3		694.0
Children's Book Publishing and Distribution [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenues	846.9	[3]	1,111.3	[3]	922.0	[3]
Bad debt expense	1.8	[3]	6.4	[3]	8.7	[3]
Depreciation and amortization	16.5	[1],[3]	20.6	[1],[3]	15.6	[1],[3]
Amortization	15.0	[2],[3]	12.5	[2],[3]	12.6	[2],[3]
Loss on leases and asset impairments		[3]	0.5	[3]		[3]
Segment operating income (loss)	24.5	[3]	152.2	[3]	77.3	[3]
Segment assets	407.5	[3]	543.5	[3]	427.1	[3]
Goodwill	54.3	[3]	54.3	[3]	54.3	[3]
Expenditures for long-lived assets including royalty advances	52.3	[3]	44.4	[3]	40.4	[3]
Long-lived assets	165.3	[3]	167.5	[3]	175.9	[3]
Educational Technology and Services [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenues	227.7	[3]	254.7	[3]	230.8	[3]
Bad debt expense	1.1	[3]	0.7	[3]	0.7	[3]
Depreciation and amortization	1.2	[1],[3]	1.3	[1],[3]	1.3	[1],[3]
Amortization	21.5	[2],[3]	20.9	[2],[3]	22.8	[2],[3]
Loss on leases and asset impairments		[3]		[3]		[3]
Segment operating income (loss)	29.5	[3]	49.2	[3]	38.0	[3]
Segment assets	170.8	[3]	168.5	[3]	161.1	[3]
Goodwill	22.7	[3]	22.7	[3]	21.8	[3]
Expenditures for long-lived assets including royalty advances	40.3	[3]	26.2	[3]	35.7	[3]
Long-lived assets	116.5	[3]	101.1	[3]	97.6	[3]
Classroom and Supplemental Materials Publishing [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenues	218.0	[3],[4]	208.2	[3],[4]	197.2	[3],[4]
Bad debt expense	1.4	[3],[4]	1.9	[3],[4]	1.2	[3],[4]
Depreciation and amortization	1.4	[1],[3],[4]	1.0	[1],[3],[4]	1.3	[1],[3],[4]
Amortization	8.0	[2],[3],[4]	6.7	[2],[3],[4]	5.0	[2],[3],[4]
Loss on leases and asset impairments		[3],[4]		[3],[4]	3.4	[3],[4]
Segment operating income (loss)	29.6	[3],[4]	18.3	[3],[4]	13.6	[3],[4]
Segment assets	168.6	[3],[4]	163.6	[3],[4]	150.8	[3],[4]
Goodwill	65.4	[3],[4]	65.4	[3],[4]	64.0	[3],[4]
Expenditures for long-lived assets including royalty advances	10.9	[3],[4]	17.9	[3],[4]	9.1	[3],[4]
Long-lived assets	91.4	[3],[4]	90.3	[3],[4]	80.2	[3],[4]
Media, Licensing and Advertising [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenues	58.7	[3]	75.3	[3]	82.7	[3]
Bad debt expense	0.1	[3]	0.1	[3]	0.2	[3]
Depreciation and amortization	0.5	[1],[3]	0.5	[1],[3]	0.7	[1],[3]
Amortization	2.5	[2],[3]	12.3	[2],[3]	8.0	[2],[3]
Loss on leases and asset impairments		[3]		[3]		[3]
Segment operating income (loss)	4.7	[3]	(4.9)	[3]	3.5	[3]
Segment assets	26.9	[3]	38.1	[3]	44.9	[3]
Goodwill	5.4	[3]	5.4	[3]	5.4	[3]
Expenditures for long-lived assets including royalty advances	3.7	[3]	6.3	[3]	9.4	[3]
Long-lived assets	12.0	[3]	11.6	[3]	20.1	[3]
Overhead [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenues		[3],[5]		[3],[5]		[3],[5]
Bad debt expense		[3],[5]		[3],[5]		[3],[5]
Depreciation and amortization	41.6	[1],[3],[5]	39.0	[1],[3],[5]	35.6	[1],[3],[5]
Amortization		[2],[3],[5]		[2],[3],[5]		[2],[3],[5]
Loss on leases and asset impairments		[3],[5]	6.2	[3],[5]		[3],[5]
Segment operating income (loss)	(60.2)	[3],[5]	(87.1)	[3],[5]	(67.0)	[3],[5]
Segment assets	402.1	[3],[5]	438.6	[3],[5]	405.1	[3],[5]
Goodwill		[3],[5]		[3],[5]		[3],[5]
Expenditures for long-lived assets including royalty advances	33.3	[3],[5]	37.9	[3],[5]	56.3	[3],[5]
Long-lived assets	236.5	[3],[5]	246.7	[3],[5]	249.0	[3],[5]
Total Domestic [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenues	1,351.3		1,649.5		1,432.7
Bad debt expense	4.4		9.1		10.8
Depreciation and amortization	61.2	[1]	62.4	[1]	54.5	[1]
Amortization	47.0	[2]	52.4	[2]	48.4	[2]
Loss on leases and asset impairments			6.7		3.4
Segment operating income (loss)	28.1		127.7		65.4
Segment assets	1,175.9		1,352.3		1,189.0
Goodwill	147.8		147.8		145.5
Expenditures for long-lived assets including royalty advances	140.5		132.7		150.9
Long-lived assets	621.7		617.2		622.8
International Segment [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenues	441.1	[3],[6]	489.6	[3],[6]	444.9	[3],[6]
Bad debt expense	2.4	[3],[6]	3.2	[3],[6]	2.8	[3],[6]
Depreciation and amortization	5.3	[1],[3],[6]	6.4	[1],[3],[6]	5.6	[1],[3],[6]
Amortization	1.9	[2],[3],[6]	2.7	[2],[3],[6]	2.7	[2],[3],[6]
Loss on leases and asset impairments		[3],[6]	0.3	[3],[6]		[3],[6]
Segment operating income (loss)	39.8	[3],[6]	57.6	[3],[6]	38.3	[3],[6]
Segment assets	264.7	[3],[6]	310.3	[3],[6]	287.5	[3],[6]
Goodwill	10.1	[3],[6]	9.9	[3],[6]	8.7	[3],[6]
Expenditures for long-lived assets including royalty advances	13.4	[3],[6]	13.2	[3],[6]	11.8	[3],[6]
Long-lived assets	$ 68.0	[3],[6]	$ 67.1	[3],[6]	$ 71.2	[3],[6]

[1] Includes depreciation of property, plant and equipment and amortization of intangible assets.

[2] Includes amortization of prepublication and production costs.

[3] As discussed in Note 3, "Discontinued Operations," the Company closed or sold several operations during the first quarter of fiscal 2012 and the fourth quarter of fiscal 2013. All of these businesses are classified as discontinued operations in the Company's financial statements and, as such, are not reflected in this table.

[4] Includes assets and results of operations acquired in a business acquisition as of February 8, 2012.

[5] Overhead includes all domestic corporate amounts not allocated to segments, including expenses and costs related to the management of corporate assets. Unallocated assets are principally comprised of deferred income taxes and property, plant and equipment related to the Company's headquarters in the metropolitan New York area, its fulfillment and distribution facilities located in Missouri and its facility located in Connecticut. Overhead also includes amounts previously allocated to the Media, Licensing and Advertising segment for the Company's direct-to-home toy catalog business that was discontinued in the first quarter of fiscal 2012. Overhead also includes amounts previously allocated to the Children's Book Publishing and Distribution segment for the computer club business that was discontinued in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2013.

[6] Includes assets and results of operations acquired in a business acquisition as of January 3, 2012.