Segment Information (Details) - Schedule of segment reporting information (USD $) In Millions, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended
	Aug. 31, 2013		Aug. 31, 2012		May 31, 2013	May 31, 2012
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenues	$ 276.3		$ 293.4
Bad debt expense	1.4		0.5
Depreciation and amortization	15.9	[1]	16.1	[1]
Amortization	13.3	[2]	11.8	[2]
Segment operating income (loss)	(45.9)		(47.0)
Segment assets	1,506.0		1,714.7
Goodwill	157.9		157.7		157.9	157.7
Expenditures for long-lived assets including royalty advances	30.7		36.1
Long-lived assets	685.5		688.3
Children's Book Publishing and Distribution [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenues	54.6	[3]	70.9	[3]
Bad debt expense	0.4	[3]	(0.2)	[3]
Depreciation and amortization	4.0	[1],[3]	3.8	[1],[3]
Amortization	4.0	[2],[3]	3.5	[2],[3]
Segment operating income (loss)	(61.5)	[3]	(54.9)	[3]
Segment assets	464.2	[3]	526.9	[3]
Goodwill	54.3	[3]	54.3	[3]
Expenditures for long-lived assets including royalty advances	11.4	[3]	15.1	[3]
Long-lived assets	163.6	[3]	170.1	[3]
Educational Technology and Services [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenues	94.8	[3]	80.0	[3]
Bad debt expense	0.4	[3]	0.3	[3]
Depreciation and amortization	0.3	[1],[3]	0.3	[1],[3]
Amortization	6.0	[2],[3]	5.5	[2],[3]
Segment operating income (loss)	36.2	[3]	24.8	[3]
Segment assets	207.8	[3]	219.6	[3]
Goodwill	22.7	[3]	22.7	[3]
Expenditures for long-lived assets including royalty advances	8.5	[3]	8.2	[3]
Long-lived assets	118.6	[3]	103.3	[3]
Classroom and Supplemental Materials Publishing [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenues	37.8	[3]	37.9	[3]
Bad debt expense		[3]	(0.2)	[3]
Depreciation and amortization	0.3	[1],[3]	0.4	[1],[3]
Amortization	2.3	[2],[3]	1.7	[2],[3]
Segment operating income (loss)	(1.6)	[3]	(2.6)	[3]
Segment assets	153.6	[3]	171.4	[3]
Goodwill	65.4	[3]	65.4	[3]
Expenditures for long-lived assets including royalty advances	2.0	[3]	1.8	[3]
Long-lived assets	90.5	[3]	90.0	[3]
Media, Licensing and Advertising [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenues	10.4	[3]	14.4	[3]
Bad debt expense		[3]	0	[3]
Depreciation and amortization	0.1	[1],[3]	0.1	[1],[3]
Amortization	0.5	[2],[3]	0.5	[2],[3]
Segment operating income (loss)	(1.9)	[3]	0.2	[3]
Segment assets	25.1	[3]	40.4	[3]
Goodwill	5.4	[3]	5.4	[3]
Expenditures for long-lived assets including royalty advances	1.1	[3]	1.1	[3]
Long-lived assets	12.2	[3]	12.1	[3]
Overhead [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenues		[3],[4]		[3],[4]
Bad debt expense		[3],[4]		[3],[4]
Depreciation and amortization	10.0	[1],[3],[4]	10.3	[1],[3],[4]
Amortization		[2],[3],[4]		[2],[3],[4]
Segment operating income (loss)	(16.4)	[3],[4]	(17.3)	[3],[4]
Segment assets	407.7	[3],[4]	440.9	[3],[4]
Goodwill		[3],[4]		[3],[4]
Expenditures for long-lived assets including royalty advances	5.2	[3],[4]	7.5	[3],[4]
Long-lived assets	236.2	[3],[4]	244.0	[3],[4]
Total Domestic [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenues	197.6		203.2
Bad debt expense	0.8		(0.1)
Depreciation and amortization	14.7	[1]	14.9	[1]
Amortization	12.8	[2]	11.2	[2]
Segment operating income (loss)	(45.2)		(49.8)
Segment assets	1,258.4		1,399.2
Goodwill	147.8		147.8
Expenditures for long-lived assets including royalty advances	28.2		33.7
Long-lived assets	621.1		619.5
International Segment [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenues	78.7	[3]	90.2	[3]
Bad debt expense	0.6	[3]	0.6	[3]
Depreciation and amortization	1.2	[1],[3]	1.2	[1],[3]
Amortization	0.5	[2],[3]	0.6	[2],[3]
Segment operating income (loss)	(0.7)	[3]	2.8	[3]
Segment assets	247.6	[3]	315.5	[3]
Goodwill	10.1	[3]	9.9	[3]
Expenditures for long-lived assets including royalty advances	2.5	[3]	2.4	[3]
Long-lived assets	$ 64.4	[3]	$ 68.8	[3]

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

[2] Includes amortization of prepublication and production costs.

[3] As discussed under "Discontinued Operations" in Note 1, "Basis of Presentation," the Company closed or sold several operations during fiscal 2012 and 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] 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 Children's Book Publishing and Distribution segment for the computer club business that was discontinued in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2013.