I think the T-rex should be FULL size. It would be great. The boys go into a candy store, and the T-rex waits patiently outside. You show the boys in the store, and you can see the T-rexs giant leg in the window, or he's peering inside.
Or they go to a natural history museum. They go inside, and show T-rex standing next to a T-rex skeleton. A guard says, "Hey, you can't bring that thing in here!". Then the guard notices the skeleton.... "Oh, never mind....."
This thing writes itself!
P.S. If you use the scene above in the book, you own me a t-shirt